What Am I Doing Here?
by Lieutenant Leah
Summary: An old fic I wrote back in 2010 that I've decided to repost. Summary: "A 20-year-old woman dies and gets sent to a world where the characters from Twilight are real! Only, there's a catch..." Seth/OC
1. Prologue

**Hello! A little context on why I'm choosing to repost this: it's ridiculous, and there can be a definite argument on whether or not this is a better love story than Twilight.**

 **I wrote this when I was 12 and wanted to control a world and characters that someone else had created (this is fanfiction, after all). I went to the extreme and created the crap-tastic Mary Sue that is Erin Baker. I remember getting inspiration for this from another fic - I even stole the first chapter (and reworked it a bit, but the context and situations are definitely the same). I don't remember the name of the fic, but it was another self-insert.**

 **This fic can get obnoxious, at times. Brace yourself.**

 **Anyway. Hope you enjoy! (I won't blame you if you don't).**

* * *

It was late at night, and I was driving home from work. I had to work overtime to be able to be out of work for Christmas Eve. There was a blizzard happening tonight, and unfortunately, the roads all around were pretty slick. Well, I brought it on myself to live in Minnesota.

I looked over in the passenger seat where the Twilight saga books I'd bought sat, a gift for my twelve-year-old niece. She'd been begging me and begging me to get them for her and I finally agreed, to her satisfaction. I'd read all the books, my favorite being Breaking Dawn. I looked up at the road again just in time to see a pair of headlights speeding towards me. I heard the crash, and my head hit an extremely hard object. The still bright headlights slowly faded to black.


	2. 1 What Am I Doing Here?

I woke up to that annoying beeping noise those heart beat monitors make. I opened my eyes and saw white. A white hospital room. It registered in my brain that there was one of those cannula things attached to my nose. It was starting to irritate me, so I reached a hand up to remove it, but a gloved hand intercepted it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to do that," said a voice with authority. I looked up to see a man with blonde hair and pale skin, with a face of inhuman beauty. "I'm Dr. Cullen. I've been taking care of you since the day you were brought in here, which was about a week ago after the car accident you were in. When you were searched for ID or anything like that, they turned up nothing."

"My name's Erin Baker and I am 20 years old." I went over what he'd said to me in my head. Suddenly, I blinked and stared in shock. "Dr. Cullen?" Involuntarily, I burst out laughing at the incredulity of it, even though it hurt slightly.

"Are you alright, miss?" Dr. Cullen asked me.

"I'm sorry." Gasp. Calm down, Erin. Calm down! "It's just a really weird coincidence, your name I mean. Cullen…"

"Well, if it's confusing or weird for you, you can call me Carlisle."

That's when I passed out from shock.

I didn't see much of Carlisle after that. He would come in and check how I was doing. Was I hungry? Did I have a headache? Was I feeling dizzy? The questions were endless and always methodical. Nothing more was said-until today.

"So, Erin, you're ready to be released if you're feeling up to it. Do you feel all right?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm fine," I said for the billionth time that week.

"I'm sorry for the scare I gave you last week," Carlisle said unexpectedly.

"That's fine. It's just I've read a book series with a doctor called Carlisle Cullen in it," I said quickly. "It's about this girl who moves to a Seattle suburb and falls in love with this guy. Bunch of sappy romance, really, but it's good. The guy's father's name was Carlisle."

"When you are released, do you have anywhere to go?" Carlisle asked.

"Um, I was supposed to be at my parents' for Christmas, but my accident on Christmas Eve prevented it."

"Miss Baker, it's nowhere near Christmas. It's the middle of August." Carlisle looked at me with concern.

"No. I was on the way home from Barnes and Noble with some late Christmas presents, and I was driving home through a blizzard. A car had slipped on the ice and crashed into mine." He didn't believe me. "Trust me; I would not lie about something like this."

"I think you need to stay here a while longer," Carlisle said, reaching for the clipboard at the end of my bed.

"I'm not lying, and I'm not crazy!" I sighed exasperatedly. "Maybe I was in a coma?"

"You were never in a type of coma." Carlisle seemed to be in thought. "Can you remember where the accident was?"

"Pssh, yeah." I thought for a split second. "I was about five miles outside of Minneapolis. My parents live in this small town about an hour away from there."

"Miss Baker, do you even know what state you are in?"

"Yeah. Minnesota." He looked at me like I was crazy. "You know; M-I-N-N-E—"

"I know what you meant." Carlisle looked deep in thought. "Miss Baker, you are in Washington State, in the hospital in Seattle."

"You mean the Seattle with that radio tower, or whatever that is?" He nodded. "Weird." Then a really strange thought occurred to me. "Are you kidnapping me?"

The doctor looked a little startled, but said, "Miss Baker, are you sure you're alright?"

I ignored the question. "We got off topic. No, since I'm in Seattle, I don't have anywhere to go."

"We'll figure that out tomorrow when you're released. I'll take you to lunch tomorrow."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

 **LINE BREAK**

The nurse followed hospital procedure and wheeled me outside on a wheelchair, much to my embarrassment. Carlisle helped me into a black Mercedes, and I had a huge freak-out moment in my head—the Carlisle in the books had a black Mercedes. He drove to a small café and we sat in a quiet corner.

Almost immediately, Carlisle started asking me questions. "What do you do? What did you major in?"

"I'm a writer; I write books, but they don't make the bestseller list or anything, I do something else, too, but..." I thought about more of my life but…I just couldn't. "Th-that's…that's all I can remember."

"You can't remember family? A house address? Friend's names?"

"Well, I have a few friends, but I'm not very social. I just can't remember their names. I'm more of a bookworm, and my friends are always calling me a 'Twiheart' because of it."

"'Twiheart?'" Carlisle had never heard of the term.

"Yeah, it's what people who are fans of the Twilight books are called." I said. "Well, since I can't remember anything to tell myself about to you, tell me about your life? I know you're a doctor."

"Well, me and my wife, Esme, life just outside this small town an hour away from Seattle. We've adopted five kids, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward. Edward has been dating this girl for a couple years already, Bella."

My eyes widened. All I could manage to whisper was, "Oh, my gosh."

"Is everything alright?"

"I'd thought about it, yeah, but I really didn't think it'd actually happened," I muttered to myself. "It's impossible!"

"What happened?"

"Can we go somewhere where there aren't any eavesdroppers around?"

He hesitated. "Will that park be alright?"

"It's fine."

I settled in a park bench while Carlisle remained standing. I shivered, and he handed me his jacket.

"I don't need it." I just nodded.

"So, what happened?" He asked finally.

"I know everything about your life. Where are Edward and Bella right now?"

He seemed taken aback at the question. "On their honeymoon. Why?"

"So it hasn't happened yet," I whispered to myself as Carlisle sat down next to me, like I was some sort of mental patient. "Breaking Dawn has yet to occur, but Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse have already happened."

"I'm sorry, you've lost me."

"I know what you are," I looked up at him. "I know almost everything about you."

Carlisle smiled. "And what exactly am I?"

I looked around to make sure there was nobody around and whispered, "Vampire."

Carlisle stiffened, but quickly regained his senses. "Are you afraid?"

I shook my head. "No."

"How do you know about us?"

"…You wouldn't believe me."

"Do you work for the Volturi?"

"Them? Heck, I've never been to Italy, and that Jane weirdo pisses me off way too much."

"I never mentioned anyone in their guard."

"And yet I know anyway."

Carlisle whipped out his phone and speed dialed someone. "Jasper? Get everyone together; we've got a kind of 'Bella' issue."

I shook my head at the phrase. Carlisle hung up and turned to me. "You're coming with me."

"Where?"

"My home."

We got in the car and drove out of Seattle in silence.


	3. 2 Moving In

Carlisle seemed tense the whole way there, but relaxed slightly when he pulled into the driveway. I gasped when I saw the house; it looked just like the one in the movies.

"What is it?" Obviously, he had heard the gasp.

"Oh, your house is beautiful," I exclaimed.

"Thank you," Carlisle muttered.

He parked in front of the house instead of putting the car in the garage. We walked up to the house, in human pace of course for my sake, and were met by Jasper at the door.

"I've got everyone in the living room," He stated and in a blur he was gone. Probably ran back into the living room. The inside of the house was like the one in the movies, save for the graduation caps that I noticed weren't in their spot. Instead there was huge landscape painting. Carlisle and I walked into the living room where all of the family were sitting, save for Edward and Bella who were still on their honeymoon. Boy, were they in for a surprise when those two got back. Esme and Alice were sitting on the white couch, and Rosalie sat on the armrest of the couch next to Alice. Jasper and Emmett stood behind the couch.

"Ooh, so tense," I said after about five seconds of silence.

"Jasper, what's she feeling?" Carlisle asked as he went over to his family.

"She's completely calm," Jasper said, but then added. "And a little…excited?"

Without warning, I burst out laughing and collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles. Not something your average mature 20-year-old would do. "That's it! I'm…dreaming!" I managed between the laughter. "I died, and now…I'm in some sort of…alternate universe!"

"And now she's in denial," Jasper added, though he didn't need to. "But the excited feeling coming off of her is making me more hyper than serious right now."

"Ok…" Gasp. "Calming…Calming down…" Gasp. "I am calm. I. Am. Calm."

I thought I heard Jasper mutter, "No, you're not." But I was too busy trying to stop my laughing to pay attention.

"Ok," I gasped. "I'm calm." I got up of the floor as quickly as I could. I was still smiling, but I couldn't control that.

"So…" Carlisle started, making sure I was completely calm. I could tell the whole family was weirded out. "How do you know about us?"

I shrugged and slowly walked toward Edward's piano. "Like I said, you wouldn't believe me." I stroked a few keys.

"We're vampires," Emmett stated the obvious. "Try us."

"Fine," I sat down on the piano bench. "Books and movies."

"I'm going up to my study to research something," Carlisle said. "I'll be back later." He disappeared in a blur.

Alice's face suddenly went blank; a vision. Her eyes darted around, seeing something we couldn't, but I could guess. She whipped out her phone and speed dialed someone. No one answered, so she hung up and tried again. Again, no one answered. She tried a third time, and while it dialed, Jasper whispered, "Alice, love, what did you see?"

She just shook her head. Her attention was put back onto the person she called when she heard someone speak. "Bella? Bella, are you okay?"

"Let the games begin," I whispered, getting a few strange looks

"He is." Alice said to Bella. "What's the problem?" Pause. "Is Edward all right?" Then she turned her head so she looked at the ceiling. "Carlisle?" Her attention was back on Bella. "Why didn't he pick up the phone?" Pause. "Bella, what's going on? I just saw—" Bella interrupted her. I knew she had asked "What did you see?" but Alice didn't answer her. "Here's Carlisle." She handed the phone to him.

"Bella, its Carlisle. What's going on?" Really long pause. I knew Bella was debating on whether to tell him, or not. "Has he been harmed?" Another pause. "I don't understand, Bella." A very long pause. There was shock written all over Carlisle's face; Bella had told him. Carlisle's medical training kicked in. "When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?" Pause. All of the family looked at him in shock. I, of course, remained calm; Jasper probably noticed. Carlisle spoke again. "How do you feel?" Bella told him. When the vampire spoke again, his voice was strained, "Put him on."

Even though I'd always wanted to know what Carlisle said to Edward, I knew he was about to get really methodical, so I tuned him out, but I heard the eight words that set me off: "We need to get it out of her." He hung up and handed Alice back her phone.

"Well, I am hungry. Can I have something to eat?" I said to break the silence.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Jasper asked.

"Hmm, let me think…" I said. "Oh, yeah, because I know what happens?"

"And what does happen?" Carlisle asked. "It would be helpful to know."

"Sorry, I can't tell you." I stated sadly. "All I can say is this: brace yourself."


	4. 3 Talk With Rose

_"All I can say is this: brace yourself."_

Shortly after I said that, I was promptly ignored. I ate all the food I wanted, since they had enough to feed the whole town. I was sipping a Diet Coke and reading Wuthering Heights at the dining room table when Rosalie came up to me.

"Erin, I know you're only human, but…"

"What?" I, unfortunately, thought I knew what she needed help with.

"I need your help protecting Bella and her baby."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "You're kidding, right? Wait, strike that, no you're not kidding, 'cause I just remembered that Bella calls you for help."

She gave me a quizzical look, but ignored the comment. "You could just—"

"Rose, seriously, I understand your protectiveness over babies and everything, and I know you really want a baby, and such. I know your maternal instincts are taking over right now," I took a deep breath. "And I've wanted to meet the baby for a long time, but if I intervene, something bad might happen to it."

She smiled at me. "I understand." She turned to leave.

"And Rose?" She turned around. "No matter how you may act, and that people might think you're just in it for the baby and don't care about Bella, I know you're just protecting Bella as much as the baby."

"Thank you," She smiled again, and left the room.

"I've always felt sorry for that girl," I whispered, and turned back to my book. Six hours later, late at night; I was practically a zombie, the family left to go pick up Bella and Edward from the airport. I wanted to stay awake but I was just so tired, sleepy, so sleepy…

 _-Dream-_

I was standing in the field the Cullen's used to play baseball. In front of me were what seemed like hundreds of figures cloaked in black. I was in the middle of a crowd of unfamiliar people, save for a few. One was Bella, who was right next to me, and very much a vampire. In front of our crowd was Edward and Carlisle. For some reason, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie were out of the picture.

Even though those three people were gone, I instantly knew I was in the almost-battlefield near the end of the book. I looked around at my surroundings, and they were so clear and defined. I could hear all the whispers of the vampires around me, and I could smell something good and delicious, something that made my throat burn. I looked down at my hands and noticed they were pale white, compared to the natural tan I was barely able to keep.

A soft, warm hand touched my shoulder, and I instantly saw an image of myself looking straight ahead. It looked like me, but it wasn't me at the same time; a much more beautiful me. The double of me I saw turned her head towards me and I was startled by the eye color; a bright amber color. The image shattered, and I looked behind me, but no one was there. I looked in front of me again and noticed that everyone had disappeared, even the people who were standing around me. I blinked, and saw a pile of bruised and bloody bodies in front of me. I looked down at my hands, which were covered with blood, and then felt the burning in my throat. The hand touched my shoulder again, and I saw another image of me, but this time instead of amber eyes, they were a bright crimson red.

 _-End of Dream-_

I woke up in a cold sweat and someone was shaking me. "Erin, it's only a dream."

I opened my eyes to see Esme hovering over me. Forgetting that I was a mature 20-year-old who had complete control of her emotions, I burst into tears and threw myself at Esme and hugged her tight. "Oh, Esme! I k-killed people! I k-killed i-innocent people, I'm so h-horrible!"

Esme hugged me back, rubbing my back soothingly. "It was only a dream. It never happened. It's alright, Erin. Shh."

I realized that I wasn't on the couch anymore; probably taken up by Bella. "When did you guys come back?" I asked when I had control over myself.

"12 hours ago. You were really tired, so we let you sleep." She let me go and I sat up against the headboard of the bed I was in. "Jacob Black is here, by the way."

"Let me guess," I frowned. "He's here to see what's going on with Bella?"

"Yeah, and the family is not happy with it."

"You mind as well get used to him," I muttered.

"Why?"

"Let's just say he's going to be coming and going a lot, but don't say anything about it, because then he might not want to be here."

Esme looked confused, but agreed not to say anything.

In the living room, seated on the white couch, Bella was pale and frail looking, Jacob kneeling next to her. Blah, why couldn't things just go faster?

"Because time is meant to go at its normal pace," Edward answered my question softly, coming to my side in a split second.

Oh. Fantastic, he could read my mind. I take it they told you about me? I thought to him.

"Yes, though I don't get why you can't tell me what will happen," Edward said. "Erin, can I talk to you in a different room?"

Yeah, sure, I don't care, I thought, too lazy to talk. I followed him into the dining room.

"Please," Edward turned towards me. "I need to know. Does Bella survive this?"

Quickly, I started counting by fives in my head, while I shrugged my shoulders. "Oh, fine, I won't be able to hide anything from you," I whispered, and he chuckled. "Yes, she survives." But not as a human. I finished in my head.

"So she will be changed."

"Yep, and I need to get the heck out of here before you read my mind for more information, but if you would…kindly get out of my head, and I won't leave."

"It's not something I can control." I gave him a stern look. He sighed. "But, I'll try."

"Thank you." I turned just in time to see Jake storm out of the house. "Finally, I get to find out what happened during the blank spots!" I added, clapping my hands together.

Edward gave me a quizzical look before disappearing back into the living room in a blur.


	5. 4 The Author Was Lazy (or, Wait What?)

As it so happens, I apparently had 'zoomed foreword' four weeks, missing the entire blank spot where the stuff I wanted to see what happened, happened. Everyone told me that I was there those four weeks, but like I was out of it. They summed it up as that I wasn't getting enough sleep, and that's why they let me sleep for twelve hours. So I officially labeled myself crazy. Anyway, I kept checking in with Edward to see if he was listening to my thoughts; thing is, he sometimes couldn't even hear me, brain-wise. Hmmm, maybe I was some sort of shield like Bella…? Anyway, I sat in the living room next to Bella, who looked like she could die any minute, and debated random stuff in my head.

I was the only one besides Edward whom Rosalie let near Bella without permission, which was a good thing, because I've never wanted to get on her bitchy side. I knew what was going on in the woods, but it didn't help ease up my tension any better.

Alice gasped suddenly from behind the couch. "I can't see Erin."

I stood up on the couch and looked down at her. "What do you mean, you can't see me?"

"You're future, I mean. Later." Wow, that's helpful. "I can't see any further than a day or two from now."

"Oh, Alice, I've always admired your psychic handiwork," I said, panicking. "But are you meaning to say someone attacks me and I die?"

"No, you live," She said slowly. "I just—can't—see you! It's all black!"

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was gonna go home after Bella was changed, I knew it. I was gonna go back to my world and die like I was supposed to in that car crash.

I turned around and plopped my butt back down on the couch, muttering stuff about alien abductions to myself. Bella was falling asleep, and looked a little cramped up in the position she was in so I got up and went over to the window wall facing the front yard and sat down on a bench. I just stared out at the woods where I knew two wolves would come from any minute. I sighed, wondering if I really was going to die. I don't know how much time had passed when Emmett, Jasper, and Edward flitted over to the front door. Seconds later, a brownish russet wolf, and a sandy colored gangly wolf burst from the trees. Jake and Seth.

"Jacob? Seth? What's going on?" Edward asked them immediately. There was a long pause in where I knew Jacob was explaining what had gone on with the pack. Unconsciously, I walked over to the front door and stood behind Emmett. He was the only one who took notice of me.

"They want to kill Bella?" Edward snarled flatly. I sighed as Emmett and Jasper went into defensive crouches and hissed at the two wolves, having not heard the first part of the conversation.

Seth backed up a bit, and I knew he'd thought, 'Hey, now."

"Em, Jazz—not them! The others. The pack is coming."

Emmett and Jasper rocked back on their heels; Emmett turned to Edward while Jasper kept his eyes on the wolves.

"What's their problem?" Emmett demanded.

"The same one as mine," Edward hissed. "But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now."

Jake whined uneasily, figuring out that we were 'separated.' Edward looked at me, obviously hearing that bit. "How did you know that?"

"I know things, remember?" I said dismissively.

Edward turned to the wolves. "They aren't far." I knew Seth was telling him he was going to run the western perimeter. Edward asked him, "Will you be in danger, Seth?" Obviously, they were saying that Seth could handle himself, blah, blah, blah.

I burst out laughing, "Oh, I love that part." I tried to imitate Taylor Lautner's voice, and failed, as I said this: "'You're always a kid to me, kid'. Oh, I found that hilarious!" Before I could protest, I was rushed inside by Emmett, and then he went back outside; I was probably getting in the way and weirding Jake out, or something. I saw Alice get up from behind the couch and walk outside, too. A few minutes later, everyone came back inside, tense. Bella was still asleep on the couch, and Rosalie was still sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Alice to her spot behind the couch again, while Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were alert as they looked out the window watching for any signs of danger.

They had a football game going, though no one was paying attention to it, beside me who was trying her very, very best to finally get what the game was about. A howl ripped through the tense silence, and then was quickly cut off. Everyone was instantly tense, but I just sighed and whispered, "Wow, Seth."

Soon, I felt myself falling asleep too. No! No, keep yourself awake, Erin. It didn't work, and I slowly let myself drift into unconsciousness.

When I woke up, I was on the couch. I wasn't on top of Bella, or the other way around, so that meant that Bella was 'worse.' Crap. I looked up and saw that I was way on the other side of the room; they'd moved the furniture so they had room for the hospital set up. It was also day time, and Jacob was here.

He, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Edward were all gathered outside on the porch. Okie-dokie, they were figuring out what the baby needed. I stood up and walked over to Bella.

"So, Bella, how're ya feelin'?" I asked, like this situation was no big deal.

"I'm fine," She answered automatically, weakly. "We just don't understand what he wants."

"Well, I think they already did," I told her as the quartet entered the house.

"Will anyone explain to me who she is yet," Jacob sneered, pointing at me. "She's human, and who is she?"

"Later, Wolf-man. Later." I muttered, and Jake turned his attention back to Bella as she watched the three vampires in question flit around the room with suspicion.

"Jacob had an idea that might help you," Carlisle said. "It won't be…pleasant, but—"

"But it will help the baby," Rosalie interrupted eagerly. "We've thought of a better way to feed him. Maybe."

Bella's eyelids fluttered. Then she coughed out a weak chuckle. "Not pleasant?" she whispered. "Gosh, that'll be such a change." She eyed the tube stuck into her arm and coughed again, and Rosalie laughed with her, trying to lighten the mood.

Edward stepped around Rosalie, no humor touching his intense expression, and took her hand. "Bella, love, we're going to ask you to do something monstrous," he said, using the same adjectives he'd offered to Jacob. "Repulsive."

She took a shallow breath. "How bad?"

Carlisle answered her question. "We thing the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than yours. We think it's thirsty."

Bella blinked. "Oh. Oh."

"Your condition—both of your conditions—are deteriorating rapidly. We don't have time to waste, to come up with more palatable ways to do this. The fastest way to test the theory—"

"I've got to drink it," she whispered, interrupting him. She nodded slightly—barely enough energy for a little head bob. "I can do that. Practice for the future, right?" She grinned ever so slightly at Edward, who didn't smile back.

Meanwhile, I silently raised my hand.

Carlisle addressed me. "Yes. Erin?"

"This does work, by the way," I said softly, so only the vampires and Jacob could hear me, and noticed the hope in everyone's eyes ignite. "It works."

"How do you know that?" Jake asked me. "Are you psychic like that pixie?"

"No, I just know things." I stated, narrowing my eyes slightly.

"So, who's going to catch me a grizzly bear?" Bella whispered. Carlisle and Edward exchanged a glance. "What?"

"It will be a more effective if we don't cut corners, Bella," Carlisle said. "It obviously is not going to want animal blood. Am I right on this, Erin?"

I nodded.

"It won't make a difference to you, Bella. Don't think about it," Rosalie encouraged.

Bella's eyes widened. "Who?" she breathed, looking at me, then Jacob.

"I'm not here as a donor, Bells," Jake grumbled. "'Sides, its human blood that things after, and I don't think mine applies—"

"Hey!" I protested, even though I knew they had some put aside for her.

"We have blood on hand," Rosalie told her. "For you—just in case. Don't worry about anything at all. It's going to be fine. Erin says it works, and the baby will be so much better."

Bella's hand ran across her bloated stomach. "Well," she rasped. "I'm starving, so I'll bet he is too. Let's go for it. My first vampire act."


	6. 5 I Am An Advice Giver

Carlisle and Rosalie were of in a flash, darting upstairs. I could just imagine them debating whether they should warm it up for her. I didn't think it mattered either way, it was still gross. Edward stayed by Bella, holding her hand. The sight of blood either made me **a)** chuck up, or **b)** faint. Neither one is pleasant, just so you know. I tapped my foot impatiently while I waited in the far side of the room for them to just come downstairs. I saw Edwards mouth move, and Bella look at him curiously, and he shook his head.

"This was your idea?" Bella whispered to Jake, I could barely hear her.

"Don't blame me for this one. Your vampire was just picking snide comments out of my head," Jacob said, trying to take the blame off of himself.

Bella smiled a little. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Yeah, me, either," He said.

After a long minute of silence, Bella spoke to him again. "Edward told me what you had to do. I'm sorry."

"S'okay. It was probably only a matter of time till I snapped over something Sam wanted me to do." I knew he was lying; his point of view in the book gave it away.

"And Seth," Bella whispered.

"He's actually happy to help."

"I hate causing you trouble."

Jacob laughed once—more of a bark than a laugh.

Bella sighed feebly. "I guess that's nothing new, is it?"

"No, not really."

"You don't have to stay and watch this," she said quietly.

"I don't really have anywhere else to go," Jake told her. "The wolf thing is a lot less appealing since Leah joined up."

Bella's eyes widened and she gasped. "Leah?"

"You didn't tell her?" Jake turned to Edward.

Edward just shrugged without moving his eyes from Bella's face, taking it lightly. Bella didn't, though. It looked like it was bad news to her. "Why?"

"To keep an eye on Seth."

"But Leah hates us," Bella whispered. She looked afraid.

"Leah's not going to bug anyone. She's in my pack so she follows my lead." Bella didn't look convinced. "You're scared of _Leah_ , but you're best friends with the psychopath blonde?"

I glared at him the same time I knew Rosalie hissed at him. Jacob looked at my glare and rolled his eyes.

Bella frowned at him. "Don't. Rose…understands."

"Yeah," He grunted. "She understands that you're gonna die and she doesn't care, s'long as she gets her mutant spawn out of the deal."

"Oh, how wrong he is," I muttered. I though he heard me, because he shot a quick angry look in my direction.

"Stop being a jerk, Jacob," she whispered.

"You say that like it's possible."

And then Carlisle and Jacob's psycho in question were by Bella's side. Carlisle had a white plastic cup in his hand—the kind with a lid and a bendy straw. Oh, right, I'd forgotten. _Not clear_. I relaxed at skipped over to Bella's side.

"Are you sure this works, Erin?" Carlisle asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, I know everything. _Yes_. It will even taste good."

Carlisle handed her the cup and she took it. She tried to sit up, but was too weak, so Rosalie put her arm under Bella's shoulders, supporting her head, too.

"Thanks," Bella whispered. "Are you sure it tastes good?"

"Yep. Though, I don't exactly know what it tastes like to you—gross. All I know is that it tastes good. And it will smell good, too."

She just nodded, put the straw between her lips, closed her eyes, and took a sip. She moaned quietly with her eyes still closed. "You're right. It _does_ taste good."

Jake looked like he was about to be sick. Edward just pressed his hand to Bella's cheek, curling his fingers around the shape of her fragile bones.

Bella sighed and put her lips to the straw again, this time taking an even bigger sip.

"How's your stomach? Do you feel nauseated?" Carlisle asked.

Bella shook her head. "No, I don't feel sick," she whispered. "There's a first, eh?"

Rosalie beamed. "Excellent."

"It seems you were correct, Erin," Carlisle turned to me. "Is there anything else we should know?"

I stared at him, instantly blocking my mind from Edward as images of Bella throwing up blood popped into my brain. "Ummm…The baby will get stronger with the more blood she drinks." I grimaced as I said the next sentence. "Expect bones to break." Everyone stared at me like I just said I'd kill the human population. I tried to remember anything else, not wanting to tell them that Bella pretty much dies and then Edward 'brings her back.' "Well...I'm trying to remember—"

"That's fine," Carlisle said. "But tell us as soon as you remember anything."

"I'm gonna sleep on it," I muttered as I headed up the stairs. "And I wanna skip the boring parts."

I thought I heard someone ask "Boring parts?" Probably Jacob. I walked into the first room I could find a bed in and fell asleep as soon as I collapsed on the bed. Unfortunately, I had more murderous dreams.

- _Dream_ —

 _I was standing in the baseball field again, the Volturi in front of our crowd of wolves and vampires, still and quiet. I looked to my left and noticed a gangly teenager standing next to me, looking straight ahead at the vampires. Then, he looked at me, and I saw he was Seth Clearwater in human form._

" _This could be it, Erin." He looked at me sadly. "I love you."_

 _The next thing I saw was a black haze. When it cleared up, I was the only one on our side standing alive. The body that stuck out more than the other's was Seth's._

 _I turned around and saw Aro smiling at me. "You_ will _join us, Ms. Baker. We need your powers."_

 _I looked at the pile of dead wolves and vampires, noticing Jake, in his human form, and Renessmee hugging each other. I saw Bella and Edward's heads slowly burning to mere crisps. And then I saw Seth again, standing up, and he said three words: "Don't do it."_

 _I turned back to Aro, knowing he had seen nothing and said, "Just leave everyone else that I love alone. I accept your offer to join the Volturi."_

 _-End of Dream_ —

I woke up screaming, tears streaming down my face. I didn't realize I was trashing around until I fell off the bed and hit the floor with a thud.

"Ow," I muttered, my voice thick with sleep and emotion.

"Erin?" It was Alice. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine," I tried to control my tears, succeeding slightly. "J-just dreaming about your fellow Italian monarchs is all."

Alice hissed when I hinted it had been the Volturi. "Wait, how do you know about them? Never mind, don't answer that. You know things, right?"

"Yep," I said, standing up with Alice's help. I hadn't realized how short I was until I stood right next to her. "Hey, I'm almost as short as you."

"Very funny," Alice said. "Edward's told me that's the second time you've had a dream like that."

"He didn't—"

"He did," Alice sighed. "But he tells me he only gets flashes of it. All he sees is the Volturi, and you as a vampire?"

"Alice," I said slowly. "I may need to be changed. Because there is something big coming up that involves the Volturi and what would they do to me if they knew that I knew? They'd kill me. I gotta be changed."

"I don't know—"

"I'll wait until after Bella's changed, but I think it would be smart," I said quickly. And then I realized my mistake; I'd revealed that Bella survives.

"Bella survives?" Alice asked, suddenly really happy.

"Alice," Thankfully I was a good liar. "I was meant _if_ she was changed."

"Oh," she looked downcast. I couldn't believe she'd fallen for it! I contained my excitement that I'd fooled a vampire, and suddenly panicked; Jasper could probably tell I'd lied. Crap. Oh, well. "Well, I'll talk to Carlisle about changing you, but for now we have Bella to worry about. Like you said, we were expecting bones to break, which has made us kinda jumpy. The fetus broke one of her ribs."

"Yeah," I said, thinking on how it breaks her pelvis later. "I know."

Alice didn't question me. "Let's go downstairs." Then looked at me with a malicious glint in her eyes. "But first, I think you need a style change."

"Alice," I groaned, but reluctantly let her take me to her room. She was lucky she was virtually indestructible; otherwise she'd have a black eye and a broken nose right now.

I couldn't believe Alice! She'd dressed me in really expensive blue skinny jeans, and a white blouse that hung uncomfortably off my shoulders. I was wearing sliver flip-flops, and had make -up on. I _never_ wore make-up! She'd done my curly black hair into a sloppy bun. This was probably the worst outfit Alice could come up with!

As we made our way to the stairs, Alice stayed at the top with her hands pressed to her temples.

"Headache?" I asked.

She nodded, staying where she was. She probably figured that I already knew what was giving it to her. As I walked down the stairs, I saw Edward nod, answering my question. His eyes were dead and lifeless again. I sat on the white couch, and blocked my mind from Edward. I did _not_ want him seeing what I was thinking about; Bella's horrific almost-death. I numbly heard Alice talking to Jake about how the fetus was giving her the headache. I sighed, and shook my head when I knew Carlisle wouldn't be here to help.

Bella was carried downstairs and set on the couch next to me, and fell asleep instantly. Jake did likewise. Edward sat in-between Bella and me, and asked something that brought me out of my thoughts. "What are you thinking?"

"Something I can't divulge to you," I stated, imagining Rosalie lose control with Bella's blood in the library. "You would freak anyway."

"How do you mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough," I muttered grimly, knowing I'd freaked him out already. Ten minutes later, Esme came into the room with a pillow and put in under Jake's head as gently as she could.

After another ten minutes, I spoke again. "You hear my conversation with Alice?"

Edward nodded. "Your dreams are quite…appalling, really. Like it's something you've imagined."

"Something like that will happen," I muttered. "But minus me there, and all the gory graphics."

He chuckled. "No fighting?"

"Sorry, I can't say."

Edward sighed, frustrated. "You know, you would be more helpful if you could just tell us."

"Yeah, but it might cause the butterfly effect," I explained. "The things that I know about are meant to happen, whether the people here are gonna be happy about it or not." I noticed Alice listening intently to our conversation. "I don't want to intervene too much, otherwise…"

"Otherwise, what?" Edward asked.

"Never mind," I muttered. We sat there in silence for a few hours, doing basically nothing as we stared blankly at the football game on the television. A few of the others straggled in, either standing or sitting. Then, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Edward called.

I looked up to see Seth Clearwater enter the room, and as soon as he saw me, he stared at me like I was the only thing on earth that mattered. Seth had imprinted on me.


	7. 6 Panic Sets In

**A/N: Ok, so every time I attempt at writing romance, I butcher it. So all I'm gonna do is if they kiss, I'm gonna write how much she's enjoying it instead of how it feels, and with other stuff, it's not gonna be all, you know, really romantic stuff. I think everyone would call this 'fluff.' Whatever. So yeah, no romance, or whatever, just what the people on this site call 'fluff.' I think.**

We just stared at each other unmoving. It was like time had come to an absolute stop just for Seth and me. Edward and Alice just stared at us in shock, looking back and forth between us like in a tennis match.

"You _are_ kidding, right Seth?" Edward finally broke the silence. After about five seconds, he added, "No, you're not kidding. Erin, do you—?

"Uh-huh," I interrupted him weakly, not wanting the moment to end. "Yeah, I know what just happened."

Awkward silence. "Hey, what's your name?" Seth walked fully through the door.

"Erin Baker," I said, my eyes following him. "And you're Seth Clearwater."

"How does she know that?" Seth turned to Edward. The vampire merely shrugged and muttered, "She knows things."

So I went on to tell him where I came from, how I got here, and how I knew what was going to happen. When I was done, Seth gave me a weird look. I looked down and asked quietly, "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, no, I believe you," Seth said, and it sounded sincere.

Bella shivered in her sleep, and then started to wake up. "S-Seth? W-what are you doing here?"

"I came here to see what Jacob was doing," He gestured to Jacob's sleeping, snoring form. It sounded like a chainsaw impersonation. "And discovered he crashed on the floor, human. Are you cold?"

"A l-little," Bella said quietly. She still had the IV in her arm, but Carlisle said that it could come off in a couple hours if she's doing ok.

"Seth, would you mind…?" Edward started to ask, but Seth was way ahead of them. They switched places on the couch, and Seth placed an arm around Bella so she would be warm, and another around me.

"So, Erin Baker from the different dimension," Seth started. "How old are you?"

I grimaced. "Twenty. And you're—what? — sixteen?"

"Hey, it helps to look 27 once in a while," Seth joked. "Seriously, though, that a really freaking big age difference."

"Does that bother you?"

"Nah. Does it bother you?"

"Nope," I said, popping the P. Watching football was starting to get boring. Eventually—seven long hours of eating and watching football later—Jake woke up. By then, Bella had her IV removed, and Rosalie was sitting at Bella's feet. Edward sat on the arm of the couch next to her, and Alice was on the floor at by my feet. And Seth was eating like a pig.

"You want some?" He asked me, gesturing to the big plate of breakfast food on his lap.

I took a small chunk of stray bacon of the plate and nibbled on it, turning my eyes back to the TV.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth crowed, seeing Jake as well. Jake stared at the arm Seth had around Bella, and then at the food.

"He came to find you," Edward said, answering his mental _what the hell?_ as Jake got to his feet. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."

Earlier, we'd made an agreement not to tell anyone about the imprinting. Yet.

Seth took in the murderous expression on his Alpha's face and quickly explained. "Yeah, Jake—I was just checking in to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I _told_ her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang,"—he turned to Edward—"man, you can _cook_."

"Thank you," Edward murmured.

Jake inhaled slowly, not taking his eyes off Seth's arm.

"Bella got cold," I said before Edward could. _Hahaha! I stole your line!_ I thought to him idiotically, while Edward looked at me like I _was_ going crazy.

Seth hear my comment, looked at Jake's face, and suddenly he needed both hands to eat with. He took his arm off Bella and dug in, while Jacob walked over to stand a few feet from the couch.

"Leah running patrol?" His voice was thick with sleep.

"Yeah," Seth said as he chewed. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours." He was proud of that, and it showed in his tone.

"Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?"

"'Bout seven." He glanced toward the clock above the fireplace mantel, checking.

"Crap. Sorry about that Seth. Really. You should have kicked me awake."

"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before you last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything."

Oh, he missed something huge alright, I said to myself. Jacob glanced quickly at Bella, noticing her color was back to normal. Bella saw him looking and grinned.

"How's the rib?" He asked her.

"Taped up nice and tight. I don't even feel it."

Jake and I rolled our eyes at the same time. Then he made a sarcastic remark, "What's for breakfast? O negative or AB positive?"

Bella stuck her tongue out at him. "Omelets," she said, but her eyes darted down, and Jake noticed her cup of blood was wedged between her leg and Seth's.

"Go get some breakfast, Jake," Seth said. "There's plenty in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."

"What's Leah having for breakfast?" Jacob asked Seth critically.

"Hey, I took food to her before I ate _anything_ ," he defended himself. It was true, though. "She said she'd rather eat road kill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls…" He was at a loss for words. In fact, they _were_ good. I'd had about two and a half before I was full and gave the leftover piece to Seth.

"I'll go hunt with her, then."

Seth sighed as Jake turned to leave.

"A moment, Jacob?" Carlisle went up to Jake, and they spoke in low tones so I couldn't hear. It didn't matter; I knew what the conversation was about.

"Okay, then," Jake said, speaking louder. "That's settled. I'll just be on my way. Seth, I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"

"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done. Unless…" he hesitated, looking at Bella. "Do you need me?"

"She's got blankets," Jacob snapped at him.

"I'm fine, Seth, thanks," Bella said quickly.

"Yeah, and I'm falling asleep again," I mumbled sleepily. "Why do I sleep so much? I hate missing stuff, why?"

"It's ok, just rest. You were up all night," Seth whispered to me as Jake walked out the door with a huge plate of food. Reluctantly, I let my eyes close, and I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

I seriously needed to make sure I didn't sleep as often. I felt like I was taking advantage of everyone by using every piece of furniture they had that was capable to sleep on. I opened my eyes to see I had been moved into one of the bedrooms, and it was late afternoon. I was still in the cloths Alice had made me wear earlier. I huffed, and got up, quickly adjusting my hair when I saw a mirror. When I came to the top of the stairs, down below I saw Jacob sitting next to a sleeping Bella. I walked down the stairs slowly, ignoring their conversation of who know what, and looked out the window. I blocked my mind from Edward so he could see what I was thinking: Bella almost dying. It just kept coming back to me and it made me wonder if I could change something. No! Things happen for a reason, I they should stay the way they are.

"Four days?" I heard Jake ask. That's how long Bella had left—as a human, anyway.

"Approximately," I heard Edward reply.

"Then what?"

"What do you mean, exactly?"

I knew Jake was asking in his head how the baby came out. Obviously, it wasn't a normal pregnancy, so it wasn't going to be a normal birth.

"From what little research we've been able to do, it would appear the creatures use their own teeth to escape the womb," I heard Edward whisper.

"Research?" Jake asked weakly.

"That's why you haven't seen Jasper and Emmett around. That's what Carlisle is doing now. Trying to decipher ancient stories and myths, as much as we can with what we have to work with here, looking for anything that might help us predict the creature's behavior."

Jake presumed that Bella's baby wasn't the first of its kind in his head.

"Then is this thing not the first of its kind?" Edward asked, anticipating the unheard question. "Maybe. It's all very sketchy. The myths could easily be the products of fear and imagination. Though…"—he hesitated—"your myths are true, are they not? Perhaps these are, too. They do seem to be localized, linked…"

"How did you find…?"

"There was a woman we encountered in South America. She'd been raised in the traditions of her people. She'd heard warnings about such creatures, old stories that had been passed down."

"The creature must be killed immediately. Before it could gain too much strength."

Jacob asked in his mind if Sam was right.

"Of course, their legends say the same of us. That we must be destroyed. That we are soulless murderers."

Edward chuckled at something Jake had thought.

"What did their stories say about the…mothers?"

Edward didn't answer. Instead, Rosalie did; "Of course there were no survivors," she said, making Jake seem like she was selfish. "Giving birth in the middle of a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face to drive out the evil spirits was never the safest method. Even the normal births went badly half the time. None of them had what this baby has—caregivers with an idea of what the baby needs, who try to meet those needs. A doctor with a totally unique knowledge of vampire nature. A plan in the place to deliver the baby as safely as possible. Venom that will repair anything that goes wrong. The baby will be fine. And those mothers would probably have survived if they'd had that—if they even existed in the first place. Something I am not convinced of." She sniffed disdainfully at Jake. Seconds later, an earsplitting crash sounded throughout the room, making me jump five feet in the air.

I knew it'd been coming, but I'd never expected it to be _that_ loud. It was like the sound of fireworks times ten! I was surprised Bella didn't wake up.

"Dumb blonde," Jacob muttered.

I turned around and saw Rosalie turn around very slowly, and then she growled out, "You. Got. Food. In. My. Hair."

And then Jake busted out laughing, Alice and I joining in a few seconds later.

"What's so funny?" Bella mumbled, awoken by the laughter.

"I got food in her hair," Jake told her, chuckling again.

"It's not funny, Jacob," I said in a firm voice, even though I was trying not to laugh, and stayed by the window.

"I'm not going to forget this, dog," Rosalie hissed.

"S'not hard to erase a blonde's memory," he countered. "Just blow in her ear."

"Get some new jokes," she snapped.

"C'mon, Jake. Leave Rose alo—" Bella broke off mid-sentence and sucked in a sharp breath. Edward quickly leaned over the top of Jake and ripped the blanket on top of them away. Bella seemed to convulse, her back arching off the sofa.

"He's just," she panted, "stretching."

I tuned everything else they said out.

I was dreading the time when the baby was born, considering there was going to be _a lot_ of blood involved. Noticing Edward's horrified glace, I quickly blocked my mind and shook my head at him. I needed to get away from here, go out for a drive or something.

"Erin," Edward spoke softly, and tossed me something. I caught it, and saw that I was holding a pair of keys.

"Thanks," I whispered, barely audible even to myself. I walked through the house and into the garage. Hitting the 'lock' button on the keys, I heard the beeping which told me what car keys I had. Why did Edward have the keys to Alice's Porsche? I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I got behind the wheel. Good thing I knew how to drive this thing. I pulled out of the driveway, and zoomed down the road—going only a little over the speed limit. I don't know where I drove; I just drove, and was in thought the whole time.

I really wanted to prevent Renessmee's birth the way it happened in the book, though I didn't know how. It was a split second thing that would be too hard to intervene with, and I wasn't some supernatural being; just human. And I wanted to prevent the almost-battle with the Volturi, though how I would stop Irena from taking off to Italy, I didn't know. I found myself driving randomly through La Push. I quickly turned around, not wanting the wolves to think one of the vamps had broken the treaty, but before I could go any further, a big black wolf jumped into the path of the car, and I slammed on the breaks.

Breathing hard, I got out of the car with my hands up like I was being arrested. "Alice loaned me her car. I didn't realize I was here until about thirty seconds ago."

The wolf huffed, noticing my heartbeat, and walked into the trees. Seconds later, Sam Uley stepped out of the woods. "Have you come to spy on us for the Cullen's?"

That sounded really stupid. I scoffed. "No. I wanted to get away from the tense drama in the house." I noticed the sun was going down. Uh-oh. Only a few hours from doomsday.

Sam noticed my body tense up. "Are you okay?"

My eyes were wide as I stared at the sunset. "I gotta go." I backed into the car and revved the engine. Sam got out of the way, and I zoomed down the highway exceeding the speed limit more than I ever would in my lifetime. I didn't seem to be getting there fast enough; it was just like in _New Moon_ when Bella started panicking when she thought they wouldn't be able to save Edward. I sure was panicking now. "Come on, come on!"

Finally, I saw the entrance of the driveway and sped through the narrow winding dirt path. Not even bothering to park the car in the garage, I ran full speed into the house. The sun had just gone down.

"Carlisle and Esme are gone, aren't they?" I asked, breathing hard. Noticing my panic, Edward nodded warily.

"Dammit!" I shouted.

"Erin, what's wrong?" Alice asked.

"Wait and see," Was all I mumbled loud enough only so the vampires and Jacob could hear as I sat down on the floor as far away from the couch as possible.

Suddenly, Bella made a face. "Rose?" she asked.

Rosalie chuckled. "Again?"

"I think I've drunk two gallons in the last hour," Bella explained.

Edward and Jacob both got out of the way while Rosalie came to life Bella from the couch to take her to the bathroom.

"Can I walk?" Bella asked. "My legs are so stiff."

"Oh, no," I moaned, sick already.

Edward looked kind panicked at my reaction, but asked her, "Are you sure?"

"Rose'll catch me if I trip over my feet. Which could happen pretty easily, since I can't see them."

I watching, face pale, as Rose set Bella carefully on her feet, keeping her hands right at Bella's shoulders. Bella stretched her arms out in front of her, wincing a little.

"That feels good," she sighed. "Ugh, but I'm huge." She patted her stomach. "One more day."

I whimpered slightly as she said this, taking a throw pillow off a chair and burying my head in it.

"All righty, then." I whimpered again, knowing what was coming, but blocked my mind from Edward, keeping the image away from him. "Whoops—oh no!"

I heard a splash and a clunk—that was the cup. I knew Bella would bend down and try to catch it, even though three hands would already beat her to it. I faintly heard a muffled tearing sound come from Bella's body. "Oh!" she gasped.

I peeked up slightly and saw that Bella had collapsed, and Rosalie had caught her.

"Bella?" he asked, panic written across his face.

Half a second later, Bella screamed. A scream that made me scream and I continued screaming even after hers was cut off. I screamed as she fell unconscious, her body twitching around her belly, and screamed even louder when Bella threw up a fountain of blood.


	8. 7 There Are No Words for This

Blood. _Blood_. _BLOOD_! I saw red and quickly scrambled to my feet, trying to make it outside before I messed up their house. I never made it—I threw up all over the white rug in the foyer. I groaned, vaguely hearing everyone screaming and yelling.

"Get him OUT!" I heard Bella scream. "He can't BREATHE! Do it NOW!"

I heard other shouts, but Bella's screaming drowned it all out. On the upside they were upstairs—and I did _not_ just make a pathetic pun. On the downside, there was blood all over the living room.

"NO! NOW—!" Bella's scream was cut off.

With my eyes closed, I slowly stumbled up the stairs, snail-pace; any faster would make me puke again. I didn't know why the heck I was going up there, that's where there was gonna be so much blood! It didn't matter; I needed Jasper to use his super-powers to calm me down. I just realized I was hyperventilating.

"Let the morphine spread!" I heard Edward shout.

"There's no time!" That was Rosalie. "He's dying!"

I was about halfway up the stairs—about two minutes later—when I heard a shout from Edward. "No, Rose!" And then a big crash. There was a series of crashes, and I knew Jacob was trying to control Rosalie.

"Alice, get her out of here!" I heard Edward shout when the crashing subsided. "Take her to Jasper and _keep_ her there! Jacob, I need you!"

"Alice," I whispered feebly, knowing she could hear me. "I think I might need Jasper's calming super-powers, too."

In a flash, I felt cold arms around my waist, and then in another flash, I was in a library—a different one, thank God. Jasper, who was standing in the corner, looked awful tense and didn't appear to be breathing. Rosalie was a few feet away from him, also not breathing, and looked ready to kill. Emmett stood next to her with an arm around her shoulders, comforting her. Immediately, I felt a wave of calm, and I gratefully accepted it, helping myself to calm down.

Alice stayed in the room with us. "Erin," she moaned. " _Please_ tell me everything will be fine."

I didn't answer her. I just stared blankly out the window, not taking anything in except the screams coming from the other room.

"Get her breathing! I've got to get him out before—" Edward was cut off by a loud, sharp crack.

"Her spine," I whimpered. Something this traumatic was _not_ healthy for me.

"Get it _out_ of her!" Jake snarled. "She won't feel anything now!"

It was silent to me, but to the four vampires in the room with me, the commotion going on was like being screamed at. Probably sensing how tense I was, Jasper sent another wave of calm towards me. That helped a little bit.

"You stay with _me_ now, Bella!" Jake yelled at her. "Do you hear me? Stay! You're not leaving me. Keep your heart beating!"

Silence, and then the people around me gasped. "She's out, isn't she?" I whispered quietly. They nodded. Rosalie looked like she would kill to get to that baby. I sighed. "Good."

After three minutes exactly—I was keeping track for my sake—everyone stiffened. I feared the worst. "Bella's heart—?"

They nodded. I closed my eyes and whispered, "She'll be fine." When I opened my eyes again, everyone was looking at me like I was crazy, but didn't question my knowledge. Rosalie looked like she was hesitating. "Go." I whispered to her. And she flitted out of the room.

"Take the baby," I heard Edward say urgently.

"Throw it out the window," Jake shot back. I sort of let out a pathetic chuckle, and I heard growling.

I shook my head as I heard Rosalie's voice chime. "Give her to me." I faintly heard them growl. "I've got it under control. Give me the baby, Edward. I'll take care of her until Bella…"

Rosalie came back into the library. Oh, my gosh! Renessmee was perfect. As soon as she saw me, she leaned a little towards me and reached her arms towards me.

"Renessmee, no," Rosalie told her softly.

"I'll take her as long as she doesn't bite me," I said, chuckling a little. "And if she does, she's not venomous."

After the little girl was cleaned up and put in a cute pink dress, I got to hold her. "Hi, I'm Erin."

She held her hand up to my face. Instantly, I saw an image of Bella all bloody and bruised and gross. There was a question with the image.

"She'll be okay," I told the baby. "I'm taking her downstairs. After I do something, you can have her, Rose."

Renessmee put her hand on my face again; it was warm. I saw an image of blood—she was thirsty, and I smelled good to her.

"I know you're thirsty," I said, sitting down at the dining room table. "But you'll have to wait. Auntie Rosie will feed you after we do something, ok?"

I made sure I was blocking my mind from Edward. Hmm, what if…? I blocked my mind from Renessmee as she put her hand up to my face again. I saw an image of Jacob. Interesting, so my their

"Yeah, we're going to make fun of him," I chuckled a bit. I saw a blanket draped over one of the chairs, and grabbed that. "I'm gonna need to hide you under this for a few seconds. Are you ok with that?"

She touched my face, and answered my question. Yes.

"Good, otherwise our little joke won't work," I said. Technically, it wasn't a joke. But it was _before_ the imprinting. "After you see him, it won't be a joke anymore, though, ok?"

The look in her eyes meant she understood. Seconds later, I heard footsteps pounding on the staircase, and I quickly but gently draped the blanket over the little angel.

"I know you have it," Jake growled at me, his body shaking.

"Jacob, I would like you to meet the object of your imprinting!" I said, placing a hand on the blanket, getting ready to take it off.

"Very funny," he growled again, his body shaking harder.

"Why would I lie?" I whipped the blanket off gently, letting them see each other. "You're perfect together!"

The hard, angry expression on Jacob's face instantly became soft as he came to a realization.

After about a minute of silence, Jake spoke again. "That's messed up."

Renessmee, knowing that my mission was accomplished, put her hand to my cheek again. I saw a cup of blood. "Ok, _now_ you can have Auntie Rosie feed you."

Rose was downstairs in an instant and I handed Renessmee to her.

I sighed. "I've always wanted to do that."

Meanwhile, upstairs, I knew a frantic pounding, a racing beat was sounding out. A changing heart.

Bella was alive.


	9. 8 Carlisle is Evil

**A/N: Warning. Seth will probably be OOC, because I have a really hard time matching the way characters act to the way the real authors make them act**

She wasn't even screaming, but on the inside, I knew it was torture for her. Bella was lying on the operation table in that blue dress and silver high heels. The room had been cleaned up of the blood, for my sake and Bella's, for opposite reasons. Everyone kept telling me the danger I was in by being near Bella, but of course I didn't listen. Didn't need too; I knew I was going to be just fine.

"I get what you meant by 'wait and see,' now," Edward said as I entered the room where Bella was.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you would have freaked," I said, grimacing. "Sorry about the throw up in the foyer, by the way."

"It's fine." Edward sighed. "You couldn't control it."

I got word from Jake that Seth was literally almost dying to see me again, but couldn't due to patrols. Before Jacob imprinted, he was all like 'live with it' with the Seth wanting to see me issue. Now that he knew how Seth felt, I was able to see him again.

~~Flashback~~

 _I was sitting on a rock outside, presumably the one Bella kills later on, just staring at the dark woods. It was only hours after Bella 'came back from the dead,' as I liked to put it, and I'd finally calmed down enough from the stress I'd had afterwards to act sane enough to go somewhere without supervision. Like I needed any. Well, anyway, I was sitting on the death-sentenced rock when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Seth._

" _Hey, I thought Jacob wouldn't let you come?" I asked as he sat down next to me._

" _Well, after the guy told me he'd imprinted on Bella and Edward's kid, I told him I'd imprinted on you," Seth said. "And he understood the separation anxiety I was going through, so he let me visit you."_

" _That's good." I sighed. "Maybe I won't kill him after all, after I'm changed."_

" _Wait, changed? As in, into a vampire?" Seth asked incredulously._

" _Can I trust you with a secret?"_

" _Of course." He smiled._

" _Well…" So I told him my story—or what I could remember of my life, up until when I found out I was in the world of_ Twilight _. I told him that something big with the Volturi would happen, and that if they knew that I knew about vampires, they'd kill me. I even told him_ how _I knew about this stuff. It was silent for a while. "You don't believe me, do you?"_

" _Oh, I believe you," he said. "It's just kinda…all messed up, but I believe you."_

 _I grinned. "Thanks."_

 _Awkward silence, once again. Seth said, "Are you really sure you want to be changed?"_

 _I nodded. "It would be smart, and safe. I mean, I know vampires and werewolves are natural enemies, but it would ensure that I'm not hunted down. You know what I mean?"_

" _Well, as long as you're happy…"_

" _I'm sure about it," I smiled. "But that won't keep me from loving you."_

" _You love me?"_

 _His question surprised me. "Of course. It's obvious that you love me."_

" _Hmm, then I have a present for you?"_

" _Oh? And what's that?"_

 _He leaned in and kissed me. I don't know how to describe it—blissful, romantic—like I said, I don't know how! Before I knew it, I found myself kissing him back. We could've just done that for hours, but unfortunately, we had to come up for breath._

" _Get a room, you two," Jake voice made me jump. Seth and I turned around to see Jake with a smug look on his face. "I know you two were enjoying yourselves there, but I need Seth back on patrol."_

 _Seth stood up reluctantly. "I'll see you later, Erin."_

" _See ya."_

 _And he turned and ran into the forest._

" _I appreciate your help, by the way." I looked at Jake, and noticed he was grinning. "But you could've given me a warning about the imprinting thing."_

 _I blushed, and then realized he was talking about Renessmee. "I did warn you, but you were too angry to listen."_

" _Whatever, bloodsucker-to-be," Jake muttered, and then he turned and ran back to the house. 'Bloodsucker-to-be?' That was weird. I smiled to myself before following him; I was_ never _going to wash my face again!_

~~End of Flashback~~

"You don't need to worry about her," I said, then yawned hugely. Sleep. Why did I sleep so much?!

"Go get some rest," Edward told me. "And I do need to worry about her, because she is my love."

"Whatever." I yawned again, exiting the room, and crashed in a random room with a bed in it. I fell asleep instantly. Unfortunately, I had another dream.

- _Dream_ —

 _I was standing the in baseball field—again. What was so special about this place? I was a vampire, like in the other dreams, and the Volturi was gathered in front of our odd crowd. To my left was Seth in his wolf form and to my right was Bella, with Renessmee on her back. In this dream, though, I was aware of my powers, sort of. I was able to read minds, and beam thoughts to other people. I was also a mental shield, like Bella, but I could choose to block specific people, and I could beam my shield to other people. There was another power, though, but that one remained unknown for now._

 _Suddenly, I was hit with a spasm of pain. It was like I was burning from the inside out. My eyes were closed tightly, so I couldn't tell where I was. The burning stopped as quickly as it came, and when I opened my eyes, I was hundreds of feet away from my allies. Jane was standing over me with a malicious glint in her eyes._

" _You will join the Volturi," She hissed, and pain enveloped me once more before my dreams turned to black._

 _-End of Dream_ —

When I woke up, I was screaming, and my neck burned really badly. I kept screaming, not understanding what was going on. I didn't realize my eyes were shut tight until now—I opened them with difficulty, and saw Carlisle standing over me looking sympathetic and anxious. The bastard had bitten me!

I gasped, trying to control the screaming. "Carlisle—" Gasp! Don't scream! "—why?!"

"I'm sorry," he said, and I got the feeling he meant it. "But when Bella is a vampire, I don't want her attacking you."

"You—" Gasp. Almost screamed. So much pain! "—bastard! She will—" Pant. It burns! "—have complete control—" Argh! Make it stop! "—of her thirst!"

Carlisle looked aghast. "Then I am truly, very sorry. I wish there was something I could do, but it's too late."

"You're evil!" I managed to gasp out. "You—" Burning, I'm burning! No, get a hold of yourself, girl! "—should have—" Ugh! It burns! It hurts! "—consulted with me first!"

"You're handling this very well," Carlisle said, trying to change the subject. "You are able to finish a whole sentence. Fascinating."

"Look—" Metal screaming! Make it stop! "—Dr. Fang!" I gasped as the pain moved on from my throat, spreading throughout my head, making me dizzy, and spreading down to my arm. "If you say—" Dizzy, so dizzy. I'm on fire! Wait, I'm dizzy… "—'Fascinating,' and relate it—" Pant. Pant. "—to me, you're gonna be—" Owie! Oh, ow, ow! "—dead meat, if you do it—" Dizzy. Why do I see black spots? "—one more time!" I groaned, getting dizzier.

I heard commotion behind Carlisle, "Carlisle, what have you done?" It was Jacob.

"Jacob, I was doing it to protect her from Bella," Carlisle explained hurriedly. Then added to me. "Erin, you need to quiet down."

"I'm trying!" I gasped out, realized for the first time I'd been practically on the verge of screaming. "Go away!"

"Seth is not gonna be happy," I heard Jake mutter as he and Carlisle went out of the room, closing the door.

I suffered in silence—literally. I controlled myself as much as Bella did. Just close your eyes, stay silent, and don't do anything! It hurt so badly, though…

"Erin?" It was Seth. What was he doing here? "Are you ok? Can you hear me?"

"I'm fine," I practically hissed out, keeping my eyes closed. "It helps to ignore it." Yeah, like that was so easy.

"I'm gonna tear Carlisle apart—"

"Seth, no." I gasped out. "It's fine. I wanted this anyway, right?" I was forcing the words out. It was like the venom was burning my existence away. My whole body was burning.

"Yeah, but not against your will," Seth said. Poor kid, he sounded like he was gonna cry. Surprisingly, I felt myself falling asleep—that was new.

"I'm falling asleep," I gasp-mumbled. It hurt so much, yet I was falling asleep. That's when I realized there was a cold hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah. Jasper," Seth said.

"Thank you," I breathed out before I fell asleep.

I woke up when my body wasn't capable of sleeping any longer. Thankfully, this was near the end of the change; I could feel my heart racing, trying to fight off the venom.

"Oh good, it's almost over," I heard Carlisle sigh with relief.

It was just like Bella had described it in the book—a battle that neither venom nor heart could win. The fire in my body was slowly dying down, while my heart beat so rapidly, I thought it would explode out of my chest. The burning retreated from my toes and fingertips, and quickly went for its final attack—to kill my heart. As the fire retreated from all parts of my body, save for my heart. It beat its last beat like a hallow thud. One more thud, then all was silent except for the three heartbeats in the house—Seth's, Jacob's, and Renessmee's. No one was breathing except those who needed to breathe. I could hear all the way to the highway, but I ignored it.

The people in the room with me were waiting for something, but I didn't understand what. I scoffed in my head, realizing my stupidity. And I opened my eyes and gazed in wonder at the world around me.


	10. 9 I Am So Like Bella

The book nailed it.

Everything _was_ clear. Fabulously defined.

The lights were on overhead, and I saw a full rainbow, plus one unnamed color at the very edge of it. I'd have to ask Alice for suggestions on the name for it. I could tell everyone in the room was tense, waiting for my reaction when I took that first breath that would make me a crazed newborn. I couldn't help it.

That first breath, I could smell unbelievable scents. The ones that stuck out was a kind of oceany one, like the beach. From reading the books, I knew that the wolves smelled like wet dog, but…there was none except for downstairs. Confused, I sat up and looked around—the movement was instantaneous, but I was more focused on getting myself unconfused. The only people who were in the room were Carlisle, Seth, Jasper, and Emmett. And I had complete control of my thirst, just like Bella.

"Are Edward and Bella still hunting?" I asked, surprised at how bell-like my voice sounded.

"Yes, they are." Carlisle replied, and again, nobody questioned my knowledge, though I was now having a hard time remembering the details in the book.

"I'm having a hard time remembering what will happen," I said, staring down at my hands in my lap. "Is that normal?"

"It gets harder to remember your human memories as you age as a vampire," Carlisle informed me.

"Oh, yeah!" I said, smiling. "I remember Bella thinking that after…Er, never mind."

"Um, Bella _thinking_ that?" Carlisle asked me.

"I know everything from Bella's point of view," I muttered, sort of embarrassed. "From the time she came to Forks. Well, actually just a few hours before she arrived, but you know what I mean."

"That's…kind of stalkerish," Seth muttered.

I laughed, and it sounded like Santa's sleigh bells. Almost. Well, not literally, but I can relate it to them. "Hey, I couldn't help it! I'm from an alternate universe, remember?"

"You are?" Emmett asked a little intrigued now.

"Yes," I said, completely serious.

"Erin, aren't you…thirsty?" Carlisle asked me.

As soon as he said that, I felt a searing, burning pain in my throat that was the only thing I could think about.

"Yes," I said, putting my hand up to my throat. "I need to hunt."

I got up off the bed and flitted over to Seth.

 _Oh, God! She's gonna kill me!_ I thought heard Seth scream.

I scoffed, totally forgetting my thirst. "I'm not gonna kill you, Seth."

"I-I didn't say anything," Seth stuttered, freaked out a little. _Did she just read my mind_?

"Of course I didn't," I said, but I'd seen he hadn't moved his lips. "Seth, come on, you're freaking me out. Of course I didn't read your mind!"

"Erin, babe, why would I lie to you?" Seth took my hand in his surprisingly warm one.

 _Hmm, another mind reader like Edward_? That was Carlisle. _I'm wondering…_ "Erin, think any sort of insult towards me."

"Why?"

"Please, just do it."

I sighed. "Fine." _Carlisle, I've always admired your doctorly skills and all, but you are the worst stalker on earth! You were a doctor in Chicago first, and then stalked Edward, and made him a vampire! Then you move on to I don't know where, and stalk your future wife, Esme! And then—_

"All right, Erin, that's enough," Carlisle grunted, holding his hands up to his temple. "I think we'll test your power more after you've hunted."

"Ha, ha," I laughed as Emmett, Jasper, and I jumped out the window. "I gave him a headache."

In the middle of hunting, I'd already had two elk, and a mountain lion. That's when I smelt something so delicious, so breathtaking, that I instantly knew I wanted that kill. I sped off in that direction.

"No, Erin!" I heard Jasper yell, but it was too late. I was aware of something following me, but it wasn't a vampire. I could also tell to other vampires were following me, but all line of thought had left my brain. I kept running, but then I felt a furry mass throw itself on me, growling.

I growled, and snapped my teeth at it, vaguely realizing it was Seth in his wolf form. That jarred me to my senses enough before Emmett and Jasper got there. I froze like a statue while they pulled me off Seth, breathing heavily unnecessarily, not fighting back.

"Seth, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed at the sandy colored wolf.

 _It's all right, Erin. You weren't in your right mind_ , I heard from him. I also heard an _Oh, brother!_ in the background. Probably Leah.

 _I'm gonna phase back, hold on a sec_. The wolf went into the trees, and a few minutes later, Seth came out in his human form fully dressed.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have run at those humans in the first place," I sobbed, still thinking it was my fault. "Are you ok?"

"Of course I'm ok, Erin." Seth scoffed. "You didn't even scratch me."

"Yeah, but I could have." I was seriously lucky I couldn't hiccup.

Emmett and Jasper were still holding my arms in vice grips. Jasper asked, "Erin, how did you stop?"

"I was afraid of hurting Seth." I shrugged; realizing that this was a similar situation Bella and Edward would be or have been in. "I need to get away from here." I tore myself from my friend's grips and ran at full speed towards the Cullen home.

Once I came in view of the house, I stopped. Unfortunately, I stopped in the middle of the river, and I was going really fast. The whole window-wall got sprayed with a tidal wave.

I squeaked, knowing they could hear me. "Sorry."

I guessed I'd had to be dried off with a towel, and not some supernatural way. Seth in his wolf form, Jasper, and Emmett finally caught up with me. Seth swam across, while Jasper jumped over it, and Emmett just trudged right on through, spraying the window with more water.

"What are you staying in the water for?" Emmett grinned.

I shrugged, stepping out. "I dunno." I smelled Bella and Edward's scents, and saw them standing not too far off standing with Jacob. "Oh. Great."

They followed my gaze, and saw them too.

"Seth, go find Leah," I told him.

 _As you wish, your majesty_ , he thought to me before running off. Again, I thought I heard an _Oh, brother!_ in the background, but it was too faint to confirm it was real. Again, it was probably Leah.

I ran into the house, found a towel, and quickly dried myself off. Then I headed downstairs.

Emmett and Jasper were now inside, though Edward, Bella, and Jake were still outside.

I joined the family in the living room, waiting for them to come in. I noticed Rosalie was holding Renessmee.

"Can I…?" I asked, walking up to her.

She smiled, and handing the baby to me.

"Hi, remember me?" I said to her.

She held her hand up to my cheek, and showed me her only image of her. Me holding her in the dining room before Jacob had imprinted on her.

"Yeah, that's me," I said, smiling. Then Jacob came sprinting through the door. He took a protective stance in front of me, with a slightly panicked look in his eyes that I was holding his imprint, but let it by.

Renessmee leaned out of my arms a little bit, trying to see around Jacob. I knew who she wanted.

"I was out just two days?" Bella gasped, disbelieving the size of her daughter.

Renessmee reached in Bella's direction, and then touched her hand to my neck. It was the image of Bella again, all battered and bruised and bloodied. "Yes, that's her." I told her.

Renessmee's eyes remained locked onto her mother's, and smiled at her.

Bella took a hesitant step forward, and everyone moved fast. Emmett and Jasper were in front of Bella, shoulder to shoulder, tense and ready to stop her. Edward gripped her from behind tightly.

"Oh, give her some credit," Alice chided them. "She wasn't going to do anything. You'd want a closer look, too."

"Alice is right," I spoke up. "Renessmee smells good to her, but in a nonhuman way. It'll be fine."

Jacob didn't believe me; I could sense it in his thoughts.

"I'm okay," Bella promised, patting Edward's hand on her arm. She hesitated then added. "Keep close, just in case."

"Bella, you aren't going to hurt her," I said, grinning. "Trust me."

And Jacob still didn't believe me.

"Jazz, Em, let us through. Bella's got this," Edward said to his brothers.

"Edward, the risk—" Jasper said.

"Minimal. Listen, Jasper—on the hunt she caught the scent of some hikers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

I heard Carlisle suck in a shocked breath. "Edward!" Carlisle chastened. "How could you be so irresponsible?"

"I know, Carlisle, I know. I was just plain and stupid. I should have taken the time to make sure we were in a safe zone before I set her loose."

"Edward," Bella mumbled, embarrassed by the way they stared at her.

"He's absolutely right to rebuke me, Bella," Edward said with a grin. "I made a huge mistake. The fact that you are stronger than anyone I've ever known doesn't change that."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Tasteful joke, Edward."

"I wasn't making a joke. I was explaining to Jasper why I know Bella can handle this. It's not my fault everyone jumped to conclusions."

In the books, Jasper seems surprised, but this time, his eyes were only wide with shock.

"She didn't hunt the humans?" Carlisle asked instead.

"She started to," Edward said, clearly enjoying himself. Bella's teeth ground together. "She was entirely focused on the hunt."

"What happened?" Carlisle asked, and I cut into the conversation.

"Long story short, she smelled the humans, and ran at them. Then when she sensed Edward running after her and she stopped and growled at him. She said, and I quote 'I have to get away from here.' And then _she held her breath and ran away_."

Bella was the only one who questioned my knowledge. "How did you know that?"

I tapped my right temple, still holding onto the baby. "I know things, remember?"

"Is this true, Edward?" Carlisle asked.

"Every word."

"Actually," I started. "Something similar happened on my hunt earlier." I told them the story of when I'd smelled the humans. I also guessed that they might have been the same hikers Bella had smelled.

"Whoa," Emmett murmured. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, every word." I said, grinning again. The upcoming situation might be easier to avoid than I thought it would be.


	11. 10 I Forsee Me

"Hey, Bella, when you growled at him, did ya get in a couple of good swipes?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"No! Of course not."

"No, not really? You really didn't attack him?"

"Emmett!" Bella protested.

"Aw, what a waste," Emmett groaned. "And here you're probably the one person who could take him—since he can't get in your head to cheat—and you had a perfect excuse, too." He sighed. "I've been _dying_ to see how he'd do without that advantage."

She glared at him frostily. "I would never."

Jasper frowned.

Edward touched his fist lightly to Jasper's shoulder in a mock punch. "You see what I mean?"

"It's not natural," Jasper muttered, giving both me and Bella strange looks.

"She could have turned on you—she's only hours old!" Esme scolded, putting her hand against her heart. "Oh, we should have gone with you."

"What am I, invisible?" I muttered, not really asking that to anyone.

"Hey, did anyone hear something?" Emmett asked. "Why is Renessmee floating in the air?"

I groaned. "That's not funny." Emmett laughed. Nobody joined in with him.

"What?" he asked. "It's funny."

"Edward," Bella said, trying to see around Jasper to see Nessie better. "Please?"

Jasper didn't move.

"Jazz, this isn't anything you've seen before," Alice said quietly. "Trust me."

"Nothing's gonna happen," I grumbled. "Why am I being ignored when I am absolutely correct?"

"It's a situation we can't take lightly, Erin," Carlisle chided me.

I sneered at him. "Yeah, well…" I huffed, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Finally, though, Jasper moved out of the way of Bella. Slowly, she and Edward walked towards me. Very slowly, and it was too slowly for Nessie. She let out an irritated wail and everyone swarmed around me to see if she was all right. Everyone but Bella.

"What's the matter? Is she hurt? What happened? Why did you let Erin hold her?" Jacob asked instantly. He reached for Nessie and I let him have her.

"No, she's fine," I reassured him.

Renessmee touched her hand to Jake's cheek and reached toward Bella again.

"See? Rosalie told him. "She just wants Bella."

"She wants me?" Bella whispered. Her daughter stared at her impatiently. Edward darted over to Bella's side and urged her forward.

"She's been waiting for you for almost three days," he told her.

They were only feet away from Nessie now. Jake was trembling from fear that Bella might hurt her.

"Jake—I'm fine," Bella told him.

Said guy's face was filled with worry.

I sighed, exasperated. "Oh brother, Jake! It'll be fine!" And I flitted out of the room.

I was upstairs letting the family have their moment. It was like I was a stranger, an outcast. I didn't belong. They were enjoying their baby and totally absorbed in Bella's 'control' and treating me like a guest. That's exactly what I was: a guest.

" _Be my guest. You're our guest, be our guest!_ " I mumbled the song from _Beauty and the Beast_ randomly. I was sitting in the attic.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, that I barely heard Bella gasp: " _No!_ "

Instantly, I was downstairs again, tense, and ready to stop Bella. This was exactly what I _didn't_ want to happen!

"Calm down, Bella!" I shouted at her, but she didn't listen as she advanced on Jacob in a hunting crouch.

"You didn't," she snarled at him.

Jake backed away, palms up, trying to reason with her. "You know it's not something I can control."

"You _stupid mutt_! How _could_ you? _My baby!_ " Bella wasn't in her right mind.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" I stepped bravely in front of her. "I'm the one who sort of instigated this! It's my fault, 'k? I put the darn baby in front of him!"

Bella snarled at me, but stepped around me. Apparently it was _Jacob's_ fault that I was the one who showed him Nessie.

 _Jacob!_ I shouted at him through my mind. He stopped short, staring at me, but quickly turned his attention back to Bella. I continued. _Don't call Renessmee 'Nessie!' Please!_

"I've held her all of _one_ time, and already you think you have some moronic wolfy claim to her? She's _mine_."

"I can share," he said pleadingly as he retreated across the lawn.

"Pay up," Emmett said from my right. I growled at him, knowing he'd made a bet with Jasper.

"How dare you _imprint_ on _my_ baby? Have you lost your mind?"

"It was involuntary!" Jacob insisted, backing into the trees.

"And I helped!" I shouted, trying to divert the attention elsewhere. Didn't work.

Then Jake wasn't alone. Seth and Leah appeared in wolf form, flanking him on either side. Leah snapped at Bella. Bella growled back at her.

"Bella, would you try to listen for just a second? Please?" Jacob begged. "Leah, back off," he added.

Leah curled her lip at Bella and didn't move.

"Why should I listen?" Bella hissed.

And then my eyesight was engulfed in darkness. "Whoa, what the…?" I muttered to myself, stretching my hands out in front of me, trying to feel for some sort of piece of furniture. I couldn't hear the things going on around me, just my own voice. I found the couch and sat down in it.

Suddenly, I wasn't sitting on the couch anymore; I was standing in a blizzard next to a snow-covered freeway. Instantly, I recognized this as Minnesota. Don't tell me how I knew, you can just tell if you're from there. I saw a car drive by in slow motion. My new, Ford truck. I saw myself, human, and I had a sad look on my face. And there was someone in the car with me. Seth. I was back to the Christmas Eve crash, and ahead of my car, I saw a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road. The two cars were getting closer, and closer—

And then a loud _crack!_ brought me out of the vision. Was I able to see the future? I didn't care at the moment. I rushed outside to see Seth still in wolf form whimpering on the ground.

Bella gasped. "Seth, I'm—"

"Not now, Bella!" I growled at her as Carlisle bent down next to Seth to help him. It was like my ears were muted again; I couldn't hear anything. Eventually, Carlisle got Seth to phase back and had him taken into the house and onto the couch.

 **LINE BREAK**

"I'm so sorry, Seth, I should have been closer." That was, like, the 20th time Edward had apologized in a matter of five minutes. Ugh, how annoying. I'd figured out the hard way that I had an even worse temper as a vampire. Bella kept trying to apologize, but they wouldn't let her finish a sentence. Serves her right. Soon, though, Seth fell asleep. What I wouldn't _give_ to be able to sleep.

"It's impossible, you know," Edward smirked at me before taking Bella's hand and taking her to the back window.

I darted into the kitchen out of pure habit. That's where I always went when I was upset. But there was nothing I could eat that came from the kitchen anymore. Unless…I wanted to try something. I whipped the fridge open—gently—and grabbed a can of Diet Coke.

I mumbled this to those who thought I was going crazy. "I know it won't taste good, but I just want to make sure."

Knowing this wouldn't taste good anyway, I popped it open and took a sip. I got a surprise; it tasted _good_. Exactly the same as it tastes to a human. I was kinda disappointed that I'd have to throw it up later, but I downed the whole thing in ten seconds.

"What are you doing?" It was Carlisle.

If I could have, I would've blushed. I mumbled, "It tastes good."

"Fascinating." I couldn't hold grudges for any longer than an hour, unfortunately. "What was that when you went to sit on the couch earlier?"

"I saw my Christmas Eve crash," I said, but then remembered something. "But Seth was with me that time and I saw I was human."

"I think it was the future you saw."

I shrugged, grabbing another can of Diet Coke from the fridge. "Maybe. Now leave me alone with my addiction."


	12. 11 The Definite

Charlie was coming over. Perfect, just perfect! What a wonderful way for me to lose control! Jacob had phased in front of him—ew, by the way—and now Charlie had a sort of knowing about the supernatural. Everyone was spazzing because they thought Bella and I were going to attack him. I'd told them that Bella wouldn't attack him, but me? I had no idea. I mean, my control was almost as good as Bella's, but I still sort of lost it for a few seconds a few times over the course of the past week or so; give or take a couple days. I made an _amazing_ discovery, though. My vampire body thought Diet Coke was blood! So I basically could live off of animal blood or Diet Coke; my choice. Carlisle, of course, thought this was fascinating. _I_ thought it was hilarious! I mean seriously; a _vampire_ living off of _Diet Coke_?

Also, there was a big deal about Renessmee's growth spurts.

~Flashback~

" _Time to measure Ness—er, Renessmee," Carlisle was explaining to Bella. I'd just come back from the store with 24 12-packs of Diet Coke; I'd held my breath most of the time._

" _Oh." Bella said. "You do this every day?"_

" _Four times a day," I heard Carlisle correct her from the attic where I was putting my stash. I heard Renessmee sigh faintly._

" _Four times? Every day?_ Why _?" Bella asked._

" _She's still growing quickly," Edward murmured to her, his voice was quiet and strained._

 _I rushed down the stairs to Rosalie, who was holding Nessie. "It'll be fine."_

 _They all gave me quizzical looks. Edward asked, "What exactly will be fine?"_

" _I mean…" I said, rolling my eyes. "That her growth spurts are normal for her kind."_

" _How do you mean?" Carlisle asked._

" _She won't stop growing 'till she's about seven. She'll look about 18 then. By then, when she's done growing, she will be immortal."_

" _Really?" Carlisle murmured. "Fascinating."_

" _Yep," I said, grinning. After that, they stopped measuring her._

~End of Flashback~

Since there was no threat from the other pack, Seth had gotten to see me more often, and we'd gotten to know each other more. We'd also discovered that his skin wasn't scorching hot to me, and mine wasn't ice cold. It was absolutely like normal temperature. He was also the one whom had smelled like the beach when I'd taken my first breath as a vampire. Clearwater, beach; so ironic. To him—and presumably the other vampires, since nobody has told me—I smelled like nutmeg, cinnamon, and pine. Like Christmas; again, very ironic, seeing as I'd 'died' then.

Whatever Leah kept saying about their mom dropping Seth on his head when he was a baby a lot is definitely not true; Seth is actually very intelligent.

I'd just come back from hunting when I found out that Charlie was coming in five minutes. It was sort of all of the sudden, and there weren't any grey **(A/N: Sorry, even though I'm American, I spell 'grey' the British way)** contacts at the drug store in town. I'd offered to go to Seattle, but they said that that city had had too much traumatization already.

"Charlie will be here in five minutes. Keep it simple."

When I'd heard those words, the main thing on my brain was that I was going to _kill_ Jacob later. But as soon as I entered the room, Alice directed me to the corner where Leah, Seth, Jacob, and Renessmee were. Apparently, she needed to _see_.

"Why me?" I asked her, insulted.

"Because your future is completely blank, and it interferes with my sight!" She complained, her eyes closed.

Alice left, and then came back with Bella, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper. She said, "Two minutes. Maybe you should start out already on the couch. You've been sick, after all. That way he won't have to see you move right at first."

Alice pulled her to the sofa, and Bella tried to move slowly and act like her old clumsy self. It sort of worked.

"Jacob, I need Renessmee," Bella said.

Jake frowned and didn't move.

Alice shook her head. "Bella, that doesn't help me see."

"But I _need_ her. She keeps me calm." Bella's voice had a panicky edge to it.

"Fine," Alice groaned. "Hold her as still as you can and I'll _try_ to see around her." She sighed wearily. Jacob sighed too and brought the baby over to her, then retreated back to the corner.

"Hmm, should we have a party?" I asked sarcastically.

While Edward and Bella were conversing with Renessmee, Alice confronted me. "You. Your eye color isn't going to help. Hmm, maybe we can just tell Charlie to ignore it?"

"Whatever, Alice," I said. I quickly raced into the attic, grabbed a can of Coke, and then went back downstairs. That was in all of five seconds.

"You're not helping," Alice fumed. "And make sure you drink that slowly, otherwise Charlie will freak."

"How do you know?" I mocked her.

Alice growled, but ignored that. "Remember, drink that slowly, don't freak Charlie out, and act _human_. Hopefully you can manage, what with your thirst and all, but that soda might help. Now—"

 _Knock, knock, knock._ I hadn't even heard the cruiser pull up.

I sucked in a big breath, held it, and grasped onto Seth's hand.

"You'll be fine," he murmured in my ear.

Carlisle answered the door. His stressed expression changed into a welcoming one. "Hello, Charlie," he said, feigning surprise.

"Carlisle," Charlie greeted him stiffly. "Where's Bella?"

"Right here, Dad."

Charlie saw her and his eyes widened. "Bella?"

She tried to make her voice normal. "It's really me."

Charlie's jaw locked.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"Are you okay?" he demanded.

"Really and truly great," she promised. "Healthy as a horse."

"Jake told me this was…necessary. That you were dying." You could tell in his voice that he didn't believe it.

Bella took a deep breath, and tensed up. It wasn't something a human would notice; I could barely see it for myself.

"Jacob was telling the truth," she said. This part of the book had never made sense to me, so maybe actually seeing it would help.

"That makes one of you," Charlie growled. And then he noticed Nessie. "Oh." Instantly, the anger fell away from his face and morphed into shock. "This is her. The orphan Jacob said you're adopting."

"My niece," Edward lied smoothly.

"I thought you'd lost your family," Charlie said, accusation returning to his voice.

"I lost my parents. My older brother was adopted, like me. I never saw him after that. But the courts located me when he and his wife died in a car accident, leaving their only child without any other family."

Holy crap, even _I_ was convinced. I took a small sip of my soda, watching eagerly.

"I take it you never knew about this?" Seth asked me softly, too soft for Charlie to hear.

 _Let's converse through the mind_ , I thought to him. _Then we don't have to disrupt the moment for Bella._

 _So, you never knew about this?_ He asked again.

Mentally, I shook my head. _No, I have. It's just never made sense to me before, though it doesn't really matter to me anyway. Nothing happens._

"And who is she?" Charlie's question brought us out of the mental conversation. Luckily, he hadn't noticed my eyes yet.

"Erin Baker," I told him. I took another sip. "I recently moved in with the Cullens."

Charlie looked at my face, and then started to hyperventilate. He'd noticed my eyes. "Why are your eyes red?"

"Let's just say it's not a 'need to know' thing," I told him, and he stopped hyperventilating. I'd used up most of my air supply.

"More of that wacko mumbo-jumbo," he muttered, then louder. "I'm the Chief of Police here, and if you—"

Everything around me went dark and silent. I could still feel Seth's hand in mine, but I wasn't really there anymore. I was back to the blizzard. The crash. As if numbly in another world, I felt myself being guided to something, and then a felt something that resembled a cushion, a chair probably. But in the blizzard, I was standing up by the freeway again. I saw me and Seth in my truck again, and the drunk driver driving the wrong direction towards my car. The two vehicles collided, and the whole driver's side of my truck was demolished, crushed. Everything sped up, and suddenly paramedics were out there, in the blizzard, trying to revive some bloody, mangled body while Seth stood near it, completely fine, though sobbing his eyes out. The body was me, and I was dying. Finally, I saw one of the paramedics shake his head, and place a blanket over my head. I was dead. _I was dead_. And something told me there was no way to change it.

As if being pulled by a bungee cord, I was yanked back into reality. I was in Carlisle's study, sitting in a cushiony chair. Seth was sitting on the floor at my feet, snoozing lightly. The sun was just setting, which meant Charlie would still be here for another hour or two.

I blinked, and nudged Seth lightly. He grunted and looked up. "Oh, good, you've snapped out of it."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, Charlie was just saying to you that you'd better obey the law, and then your face suddenly went blank and lifeless." He shivered, as if the memory was unpleasant. "You dropped your can of pop, apparently involuntarily. You stood there for about thirty seconds without doing anything, just staring blankly ahead and as still as a statue, not even blinking. I guided you up here; surprisingly, your body functioned enough to walk. You've just been in some sort of trance for the past couple hours. We told Charlie that it was some sort of medical spell you had once in a while, but I don't think he believed us."

I sighed. "I think I can see the future. Not like Alice's subjective visions, but definite futures that can't be changed no matter how hard you try. I saw—I saw you and me. We were in my truck in my world, driving down the freeway where my car had gotten run into. There was a blizzard. Well, the cars collided, and you were perfectly fine, but me…I-I didn't...I d-didn't m-make it…"

We stood up at the same time, and hugged each other. I sobbed tearlessly onto his shoulder while he soothed me.

"It's all right, Erin," Seth said as he rubbed my back. "We'll find a way to stop this from happening."

"N-no!" I almost shouted. "If we try to stop it, then it'll end up happening anyway."

"And if we ignore it…?"

I groaned. "Like I said. There's no way to change it, no matter _what_ we do!" And then I sobbed even harder.


	13. 12 Frequent

Charlie was still at the house when Seth and I came back downstairs.

"So," Charlie said as I sat down on the floor in front of Bella. "I don't believe that was a medical problem. What was that?"

"Something I can't control," I told him. "Unless you want to know the details, it's not a 'need to know' thing."

He seemed satisfied with my answer. Everyone in the room was slightly tense because I was in the room, but nothing happened the rest of the evening, though once when I was coming back in the room after retrieving a Diet Coke—unopened in case of more 'visions'—I almost attacked Charlie from behind. Luckily, Seth stopped me from behind and Charlie never noticed. All the vampires in the room were tense after that, but I'd reassured them that I was fine. Leah had looked like she was gonna phase and attack me any second.

Bella was just saying goodbye to him for the night, and Seth was leaving to go out on patrol with Leah.

"Erin, we'll find a way to stop it," Seth whispered to me as we stood outside. I was going to go hunting anyway. Charlie was walking slowly over to the cruiser and I got the feeling he was watching and listening in on us. "It'll be fine." And then he disappeared into the trees.

I noticed Charlie was watching where he'd disappeared suspiciously, and then his eyes were on me. I sort of half-heartedly smiled at him and waved. He was still trying to take his time. I shook my head and ran full speed into the woods.

 **LINE BREAK**

I was an emotional wreck. Even though I didn't show it on the outside, on the inside I was screaming bloody murder. Just after I'd found a new home and a new life, it was going to get taken away from me. Sitting next to me was a dead mountain lion completely drained of blood. I was lying on the ground face up, allowing the rain splash on my face. I didn't even blink when a raindrop landed on my eye; the water hissed and evaporated because of the venom. I opened my mind up to listen to the animal minds around me. Their minds were based upon three objectives: eat, hide, and survive. I thought I noticed the pack mind once, but they were too far away to tell.

I sighed unnecessarily, and closed my mind up, shielding it. I'd never really believed in fate, or the Fates, or whatever controlled one's destiny, but now I was questioning it. What if everyone had some sort of life planned out for them? What if you couldn't control your life as Alice's visions portrayed you could?

 **SethPOV**

I was really worried about Erin. She somehow became human again and died? Wasn't that supposed to be impossible?

 _Seth, quit complaining_. That was Leah.

I loved her, but sometimes she could be a pain in the ass.

 _I try, little brother_ , she thought smugly.

 _Wouldn't you be worried if someone you loved was going to die and there was no way to stop it_? I asked her, slightly angry.

 _Okay, okay. God, Seth, you don't need to get so worked up_.

She tried to ignore me, but I could tell it wasn't working. How were we going to prevent it? If we used my idea and tried to interfere, Erin said that that will just make it worse. If her idea and 'go with the flow' as she put it, we might end up going there anyway. And since Alice couldn't see either of us, we were sort of stuck.

 _Oh, jeez Seth, I didn't notice!_ Leah thought sarcastically. _Just let 'fate' or whatever take charge and kill the both of you!_

I looked up and noticed the sun had come out from behind the clouds.

 **ErinPOV**

I had my eyes closed, trying so desperately to sleep. Didn't work out so well. I felt a sudden warmth on my skin, like an early summer breeze. I opened my eyes and saw the sun had burst from behind the clouds. My skin was beautiful, like thousands of diamonds were embedded into my skin, reflecting the sunlight. I marveled at the sight for about ten minutes before the sun disappeared again. I closed my eyes again, trying to lose myself in the silence around me. Soon, though, I heard footsteps. They were too heavy to be that of a vampire or werewolf, but I ignored them. The footsteps grew closer and my throat started to burn. I ignored that too. I knew a human hiker was coming my way, and suddenly I felt as if I should lure them to their death. I wanted their blood so badly…

No! Get ahold of yourself, Erin! I told myself. But the smell was so delicious and somehow fragrant. I heard the human gasp. It was a man.

"Hey, Jerry, get over here!" I heard him shout. So, there was more than one. "I found something!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'." That must have been Jerry. He sounded native, almost. "Mark, the last time ya said that, ya found a pile o' deer dung! Just quit messin'—" The footsteps stopped about five feet away from me. My throat was on fire. "—around."

"What d'you suppose happened to her?" Mark asked, slightly appalled. I was still covered in the lion's blood. "And that lion?"

"I dunno." I heard Jerry's clothes shift; he'd shrugged. "Maybe she 'ad a gun and shot it. Then it got mad at 'er and attacked 'er. Maybe she died from 'er wounds and the lion died from blood loss?"

"Maybe." Mark kneeled down next to me; his voice was closer. "But she doesn't appear wounded, just covered in blood."

He ran one of his fingers across my cheek where there was more blood, then removed the finger.

"Blood looks fresh, Mark," Jerry said. He was probably looking over his companions shoulder. "This must've 'appened a few minutes ago."

Jerry felt the skin on my arm; his hand was rougher than Mark's. "She's as cold as ice." His hand moved to my neck to feel for a pulse. "Nothin'. She's dead."

They moved away from me, standing about ten feet away. Thank goodness, too, because I was having a hard time controlling myself already.

"It's curious, ya know," Jerry muttered.

"What is?"

"A beautiful, full grown woman in the middle of nowhere with no 'iking supplies, no jacket, nothin'. Just lyin' dead next to a mountain lion, also dead, with no reason to _be_ dead."

"Jerry, I know you've always been the superstitious type, but seriously?"

Ok, their blood seriously smelled real good, and my throat was burning pretty bad. I had to succumb. I feigned stirring from unconsciousness and tried to make my voice sound feeble. "H-hello?"

Jerry gasped and didn't move, but Mark rushed to my side. "Are you all right?"

I made my eyes flutter open. He had fairly pale skin—not as pale as mine—and had dark brown hair. His face had worry written all over. I forced feebleness into my voice again. "W-where am I? _Who_ am I? What h-happened?"

In the distance, I heard a vampire running, but I ignored it.

"We just found you here," Mark said. I got the feeling I was dazzling him. "We found you next to that mountain lion over there, and you and it were really bloody. That thing obviously got hurt somehow, but you don't seem to have a scratch on you. Do you remember what happened?"

I shook my head. This was easier than I thought. "No. I don't remember anything."

The vampire grew nearer, and I sensed it was either Emmett or Jasper, but it didn't matter. My kill was becoming more confident in me. Jerry, however, remained suspicious. He, in fact, was part native.

"Do remember why you were out here?" Mark asked.

"I remember wandering around, looking for something. But I didn't remember what. And that's when the lion attacked me."

"Erin!" I heard Emmett yell. Oh, so they were trying to stop me and caught onto my charade. "Erin, where are you?"

"Erin?" That was Jasper. "Erin!"

"Do their voices sound familiar?" Mark asked me as he helped me stand up. I shook my head. "Ok, we'll get you some help once we get back to the Jeep."

"Erin," Emmett said. I looked across the clearing. He was dressed in a hiking outfit and all that. It looked kind of goofy. "We thought you'd been attacked."

"Who are you?" I almost growled at him, but I controlled myself.

"Erin, come on, you can stop the act," Emmett said, walking closer.

"As a matter of fact, son," Jerry stepped in front of me. "She _was_ attacked. And since she doesn't seem to remember a thing, or even you, I don't think it would be safe for her to go with you."

"But she's my _sister_ ," Emmett protested. "Can't you see the resemblance?"

I did notice that we had a few similarities; we both had black hair **(A/N: Sorry, but the movie version of Emmett is burned into my brain)** , and we both had pale skin.

 _They're mine!_ I screamed to Emmett through my mind. He winced slightly, but he knew what was promoting my 'attitude.'

"Erin, come on, Jasper's really worried," Emmett said.

"Who's Jasper?" Mike asked.

"Her boyfriend," Emmett lied. Oh, no he didn't! Jasper was going to kill him, and so was I. "He's worried out of his mind about her." And then Emmett shouted out. "Hey, Jazz! I found her!"

About a minute later, Jasper came into the clearing behind Emmett. He thought to me, _We'll talk about this later_.

"Erin, oh, thank God your brother found you!" Jasper rushed over to me at human speed and hugged me. "Come on, we gotta get home and get you warm."

"Who do you think you are?" I shouted, tearing myself from his grip. "I don't even know who I am, and you're already acting like you own me?"

Seriously, I was so good, I almost believed myself. Almost.

"Erin, come on, you need my dad to check you out to make sure you're okay," Jasper pleaded. _Please don't attack them, and come with us. Please_.

 _FINE!_ I screamed at him. I put a sort of curious expression on my face. "Wait…Jasper? Emmett?"

"Yes, it's us." Emmett and Jasper said, relaxing slightly.

"Oh, I was lost! I thought I wouldn't find you!" I hurled myself into Jasper's arms again, pretending to cry.

"Thank you," Jasper said to the hikers. "We'll take her from here."

"Ok, son. Goodbye," Jerry said. And they walked away. I heard Jerry mutter, "Still think it was too weird."

"Erin," Jasper growled as he stepped away from me. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I was lost in thought," I mumbled. "And then they came up to me, and…" I inhaled; their scent still lingered in the air.

"I think you need to drink more of that soda," Jasper growled. "We're going back to the house."

 **LINE BREAK**

Everyone ignored me. Seth was still on patrol, and Jake was giving me his best murder glare. I hid out in the attic, sipping Diet Coke, and reading a random book. I think it was Romeo and Juliet, though I wasn't sure, because I didn't pay attention to it. Everyone now thought I was dangerous because I didn't have enough control. Well, when I'd smelled the humans, I hadn't attacked right off the bat! I soon lost myself into the book, momentarily forgetting the events of the day.


	14. 13 Not Supposed to Happen

Renessmee had said her first word: Momma. Also, that first word became her first sentence: _Momma, where is Grandpa_? It sure made Bella's day since she knew that her baby didn't have some sort of growth disorder. Just a 'normal,' growing immortal child. On that subject, I planned to stop Irena from running to the Volturi, but something told me I wouldn't be able to stop it. I sighed unnecessarily; I was still being ignored. For reasons unknown, I got the feeling that nobody really wanted me around. An outcast once again. Perfect. Seth, Diet Coke, and isolation were pretty much all I had, no thanks to Jasper and Emmett. If I had just killed those humans, no one would know anything about it. I think.

 **LINE BREAK**

The days grew into weeks, weeks into months. Renessmee was now three months old. One day, when she was sitting in my lap, she'd asked me about something that I'd hoped she'd never ask. Too many people knowing about my visions, especially a baby, depressed me too much.

~Flashback~

" _Auntie Erin, do you go to sleep?" She asked me randomly. I was an Aunt figure to her now, and I was proud of it. Too bad I probably wasn't in the book._

" _No." I smiled at her. "Why do you ask that?"_

" _Because your face goes blank, like you're asleep," She said._

 _I sighed. "You know how your Aunt Alice can see the future, right?"_

 _She nodded eagerly._

" _Well, I can do that too, sort of," I explained. "But instead of subjective visions that change when people make decisions, mine are definite and can't be changed." That was all I was going to tell her._

" _What do you see?" She whispered, as if wanting it to be our secret._

" _Isn't it your bedtime?" I asked her, taking note of the dark sky outside, changing the subject._

" _I'm not tired," She protested, and then she yawned and rubbed her eyes._

" _Huh-uh, you aren't gonna get away with it that easily," I teased her. "Let's go find your Momma."_

~End of Flashback~

So, now the smart little brat knew I had visions. I was standing in the local supermarket, which was kinda small, looking for food for the pack and Diet Coke for me. My eyes were becoming an interesting shade of amber now, so from a distance they looked almost brown.

In my cart, I had an assortment of food, and there was a lot of it—I think I might need to get another cart. I saw someone in the store, someone that I recognize, and someone I hadn't seen in a long, long time…and that person saw me.

"Erin?" She asked. The girl was standing next to the meat freezers. She looked about my age, and had long blonde hair and was a little taller than me by a couple inches, and was really skinny. "Erin, is that you?" She walked towards me slowly.

"Do I know you?" I asked her. No, it couldn't be her, it was impossible! Yeah, sure, I remembered her face, and now that I saw her the memory of her name was coming back, but…

"I'm Briana, don't you remember?" It really was my old childhood best friend. But what was she doing here in this dimension?

"Briana?" I asked, my eyes widening in shock. Seriously, what was she doing here?!

"Erin!" She ran over and hugged me. Thankfully, I was wearing a turtleneck sweater. I hugged her back, trying to ignore the sweet scent of her blood. "It's been so long! What have you been up to all these years?"

"It's a long story," I smiled at her. "Would you like to come over to the house I'm staying at?"

"Yeah, you and I can finish our shopping," she agreed enthusiastically. "I walked here, since I live a few blocks away, so you can take me there once I have everything put away. I'll meet you in the parking lot. What does your car look like?"

I had borrowed Alice's Porsche. "Look for the yellow expensive car. Do you need to let anyone know where you're going?"

"Nah, I live alone. No boyfriend, even," she said, and walked off with her cart.

As a matter of fact, I did have to get another cart. You know, the wolves are fun to be around and all, but sometimes I think they eat too much for their own good.

After I check out and brought everything outside—with the help of a kind grocery clerk—I dumped everything in the trunk of the yellow car. After that, I got in the car and waited for Bri.

The only reason I was inviting her over was because I needed to know if she knew she wasn't in the same dimension she used to be in. I decided to give Carlisle a heads up she was coming.

He answered on the third ring. "Erin, what is it?"

"Um." Honestly, I didn't know _what_ to say. "I found a friend of mine from my world."

"Yes?"

"Well…she's human, and I think she's oblivious to the fact that she's not exactly in the real word."

"Get to the point, Erin."

"I invited her to come over," I said quickly. "And, well, I'm planning on telling her about all this considering she's not even from here?"

Carlisle was silent. Then he sighed. "First, find out what she knows, and then maybe you could tell her. Who is she?"

"Her name's Briana Thompson," I told him. "Have you seen her anywhere before?"

"I think she's lived in Seattle for eight years. That's all I know, besides that I've seen her in the hospital a few times. I think she's an intern there. Do you think she remembers anything from her old life?"

"Probably, 'cause she remembered me." I saw my friend making a bee-line for the car; it was the only yellow one in the lot. "Oh, she's coming. Gotta go!"

"Erin—" I hung up on him.

Briana got in. "So! Where are you staying?"

"At these people's house. Their last name is Cullen." I shrugged. "Got a big family, all the kids are adopted. One of them got married, and they adopted a three-year-old." My friend's eyes went wide.

"You mean, like the Cullens in that _Twilight_ book, or a different family?" She asked, half-teasing me.

"I dunno." Again, I shrugged. I was shocked that she knew about the book. "When did you move up here?"

"Long story." She announced. "You remember when my mom and I moved to Arizona after my dad died from cancer when I was six, right?"

"Sorry." I shrugged again. "No."

"Oh, well. Yeah, we moved to Arizona, and we lived there for six years. I turned twelve right before we moved to Seattle. That's right around when the _Twilight_ book came out; I got it for my birthday. We rented a car and we were going to our new house. Well, mom isn't the best driver, and when she stopped at an intersection, the car was sticking about halfway out of the road so that if someone was coming from the right, they could've easily hit our car. Well, I was reading my book at the time, not really paying attention to what was going on around me.

She took a deep breath. "And, well, the doctors had told me a semi had hit the passenger side of the car. They said the car rolled over, and my mom died instantly. Somehow, I survived; they said it was a miracle. I was in a coma for about two years, and when I came out of it, the only thing I had with me were the new clothes the hospital had given me, and my book. Homeless at the age of fourteen and no way to pay the hospital bill. I moved here to Forks last month after I'd had a job in Seattle for a while." The she looked around and noticed we were still in the parking lot. "Why aren't we moving yet?"

 **LINE BREAK**

"Sorry, I was too focused on what you were saying," I said as I turned the car on and put it into gear. I drove out of the lot at an alarming speed. For my friend. She didn't notice it at first for the first few minutes, and then…

"Holy, crap! Slow down, you'll get us in an accident!" she panicked, clutching the seat tightly.

I laughed. "Don't worry, I've never—"

I was cut off by a familiar, alarming howl in the distance. Leah. Soon, the other's joined her in. All but Seth.

Briana gasped. "What was that? Some sort of wolf pack?" But I barely heard her as I opened my mind to anything that I could hear.

 _Seth,_ what _is going on?!_ I heard Leah scream. This didn't happen in the book; I was panicking.

I slammed on the break, and pulled the car over to the side of the road. We were about a half mile away from the house. I got out of the car, not bothering to shut the door.

"Erin, what's—" Bri started to ask, but I cut her off.

"Stay in the car! Lock the doors!" And I ran full speed into the woods. I didn't know where they were, I was just hoping to find that familiar wet dog smell, or Seth's scent.

 _What happened!_ I screamed at them through my mind.

 _I don't know!_ That was Leah. _I just saw something attacking him, and_ —

 _I'll help find him!_ I ran deeper into the woods. And then I found him.

I stopped at the edge of the clearing, appalled at what I saw. Seth lay near me, bleeding, while a hunter and his buddy stood not too far away. One of them was holding a smoking rifle.

A plan already forming in my mind, I ran as fast as a human would into the clearing. "Hurry! There's more coming!" I pretended to pant. "Run!"

They didn't need any more convincing, and they ran away from the direction I'd come. They'd think I'd follow them.

"Seth!" I whispered, searching his mind to see if he was conscious.

 _A-are you a-an a-angel?_

"Seth, please don't joke around right now!" I scolded him as I ripped my jacket off and applied some pressure to the wound. All of my strength would probably kill him.

 _F-fine, you d-don't need to be so bossy_ , I heard him think faintly.

 _Hang in there, Seth!_ I heard Leah shout. _We're coming!_

While I was putting pressure on the wound, I whipped my phone out and dialed Carlisle's number. He answered on the first ring.

"Erin, what is it? Did you attack your friend?"

"No!" I almost shouted. "Some hunter shot Seth! This didn't happen in the book, Carlisle! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Erin, calm down, I'll be there in a minute." He hung up. About a minute later, he showed up. "Erin, will the pack be here soon?"

I nodded.

"All right. When they get here, I'll have them help me." He raised an eyebrow at me. "You, however, have some explaining to do to your friend."

I looked down at my bloody hands. I sighed. "Yeah. I'll bring her over to the house. Call me if something happens, or…Yeah."

I ran back in the direction of the car. Surprisingly, Briana had done as I'd told her to do. Once she saw me walk through the trees, she came out of the car, hands on her hips.

"Ok. First of all, don't try to fool me, 'cause I know what I saw," she said stubbornly. "You can't explain how you just disappeared in the blink of an eye, and I know it had something to do with that howling." She took a deep breath. " _What. Are. You_?"

"I'll take you to the house first," I said, trying to hide my hands. Didn't work, considering Briana is _extremely_ observant.

"What happened to your hands?" she shrieked.

I got in the car. Her door was still open. "Just get in the car, Bri."

She huffed. "Fine. But I want an explanation."

The rest of the ride to the house was silent. Briana just stared ahead with a cold look on her face. The only time I'd seen her like that is when we were having a 'slumber party' when we were five, and her mom had made us go to bed early. When I pulled into the driveway, her stare got even meaner. It got even meaner, still, when she saw the house.

As we were getting out of the car, she mumbled something. "Suspicions confirmed." Then, she added coolly. "But I suppose you heard that, didn't you?"

I didn't answer her. I grabbed her arm and fled into the house quickly.

"She knows." Was all I said before I let her go in the living room, and darted upstairs to the attic. I sat down and put my head in my hands. This was _not_ how things were supposed to happen.


	15. 14 We're Gonna Die

I vaguely heard Carlisle come into the house. Quick as lightning, I raced down the two flights of stairs. Seth was walking, sort of, with Carlisle supporting him. Leah was not too far behind, hovering like a mother hen.

"Where is the rest of the pack?" I asked as Carlisle helped Seth onto the couch.

"Once they realized Seth was okay, they went back on patrol," Carlisle answered me.

"Then Jake came here and went hunting with Bella and Nessie," Edward finished. My eyes widened; perfect, just perfect!

I saw Briana sulking in the corner of the room with a cold stare on her face. "What's going on?" she whispered. "What is this place?"

I walked over to her and knelt down a few feet from her. She recoiled from me, as if frightened; I didn't blame her. "I've nicknamed it the Twilight dimension, after the books."

"'Books?'" She asked, her interest piquing a bit. "There's more than one?"

"There are four in all: _Twilight_ , _New Moon_ , _Eclipse_ , and _Breaking Dawn_. Right now, we're sort of going through the events of _Breaking Dawn_."

"What's _New Moon_ about?" She asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later." I looked at her sympathetically and walked over to the couch, where Seth was lying; there was a pale, round scar by his left shoulder.

"He's just asleep," Leah answered my unasked question as I sat down in front of the sofa. She was standing behind the couch, sort of leaning on it. "Thank you for finding him, by the way."

"You're welcome," I mumbled to her. I turned around. "No offence, but since when are you nice?"

She shrugged. "I never said I was going to be nice." She sighed. "Look, just give me some credit for trying to get used to you leeches."

"I am." I tried for a smile. "I understand your bitterness, Leah, really."

There was a football game playing on the TV.

"Isn't there anything else _other_ than football on this thing?" I asked as I grabbed the remote, and started flipping the channels really quickly. I heard some shuffling of fabric from Briana's direction, but ignored it.

"We could watch a movie," Bri said hesitantly. I stood up and looked behind me; she was holding up the first _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movie. "I mean, I know it probably doesn't exist here, but—"

"No, it's fine." I said, allowing her to put it in the player. "It's not my favorite one— _On Stranger Tides_ is—but, yeah, we can watch it."

" _On Stranger Tides_?" My friend asked.

"Girl, let's just put it this way: You missed a lot." I saw the movie was at the main menu, so I hit play. No one really paid attention to it besides Briana. Seth slept like the dead. Eventually, Leah moved from her spot behind the couch and sat in one of the chairs.

"How long have you been here, Erin?" Bri asked during the middle of the movie.

"A few months, not that long," I shrugged. "Apparently, the car crash method must be the most frequently used type of dimension traveling."

"Oh." She replied quietly. "I'm sorry."

I heard the noise of running vampires in the distance, and knew that Bella, Jake, and Renessmee were coming back from there run-in with Irena.

Hurriedly, Bella came inside carrying Renessmee. Jake followed a few minutes later.

"Saw Irina?" I asked them.

"Yes," Bella replied. She handed me Renessmee and started pacing.

"Aw, c'mon, why don't I get to hold her?" Jake complained playfully.

"Because I was the first person she saw," I shot back at him, maturely sticking my tongue out at him.

 **LINE BREAK**

As it turns out, Carlisle and Edward hadn't been able to catch up with Irina. Her trail had disappeared into the ocean, and they couldn't find it after that. _I_ , however, knew she was going to Italy. Bella was beating herself up over it, of course, thinking that Jacob shouldn't have phased, blah, blah, blah. Really, though, it was because Irina thought Nessie was an immortal child—you know; a toddler vampire.

Seth was doing better, just a little sluggish. He'd probably be better by the end of the week.

Alice kept catching glimpses of Irina's future, but all she knew is that she wasn't going back to Denali. And, since I was now the 'Supreme Advice-Giver,' the family wouldn't have to go down to Rio to find answers about Renessmee. Bella was going to Italy—allegedly—soon, though. I say 'allegedly' because she _doesn't_ go. Ha! _They_ come _here_. Of course, I'm not going to tell the quite yet, though. What I was really excited about though, was meeting all the other vampire covens. I totally loved that part of the book!

Anyway, Alice was cleaning up for some reason—I forgot why—and was carrying a vase of flowers to the kitchen. And then she dropped it. Accidentally. I also knew she was having a vision. I heard Edward choke out a gasp.

" _What_?" Jasper growled, rushing to her side in a blurred movement. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her sharply. " _What, Alice_?"

In the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett had his teeth bared.

Jasper shook his wife again. "What _is_ it?"

"They're coming for us," Alice and Edward whispered together in perfect synchronization. "All of them."

Silence.

I was the one to break it. "Knew it. Bound to happen one of these days already."

"What do you mean?" Edward practically growled at me.

I backed up a little. "Geez, you don't need to get so ornery." He growled at me again. "Wow, such a fussy little one. _This stinking happens in the book!_ I'm just gonna sit back, relax, watch, and let it play out like it should. Let's just say, that if you decide to do as you do in the book, this will all turn out perfectly fine." I grinned like a moron at all of them. "Meanwhile, _I_ will be going shopping with Briana."

Edward growled at me again and launched himself at me. He was much better at fighting than me, so my main objective was to run _away_ from him. I was half way out of the house when he tackled me to the ground by my legs. "How can you be so selfish?" He growled at me. "Do you have any idea how _childish_ you sound?"

"Do you have any idea how _immature_ you're acting?" I shot back as I continued to struggle with him, trying to kick him in the face. He continued to snap and snarl at me like he was trying to kill me, while I was trying to wrestle him off of me. "Dude, I'm not _meant_ to be there when they come! Get over it!"

Someone pulled Edward off of me. Emmett. "Bro, calm down, will ya? What's going on in your head right now? Mutiny against our all-knowing dimension traveler?"

I searched through Edward's brain, and then replied with a smile, "Something like that." I got up off the floor with ease.

"What's going on?" We all heard a sleepy voice come from the top of the staircase. Briana. "It sounded like two boulders smashing into each other."

"That would have been Edward trying to kill me," I told her simply as Emmett released his brother. "Don't worry, though. I'm fine." After a split seconds hesitation, I added, "But I think Edward will need to go to a mental hospital. He keeps hearing voices."

Edward growled, but didn't say anything while Emmett burst out laughing. Nobody joined in with him.

" _What_ is with you people? Don't you have any sense of humor?" Emmett asked incredulously. "That was the _funniest_ thing ever!"

Edward growled again, but made no move to do anything.

"When are they coming?" Carlisle asked, breaking our little argument.

Alice's eyes went blank, and then she and Edward replied together. "Not long." Then she spoke alone. "There's snow on the forest, snow on the town. Little more than a month."

"Why?" Carlisle asked, this question was directed at me.

"Irina thought Nessie was an immortal child," I answered quickly. "It had nothing to do with Jake."

"They're all coming," Alice said hollowly. "Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives."

"The wives never leave the tower," Jasper contradicted her, his voice flat. "Never. Not during the southern rebellion. Not when the Romanians tried to overthrow them. Not even when they were hunting the immortal children. Never."

"They're coming now," Edward whispered.

"But _why_?" Carlisle asked again.

"Didn't I just tell you?" I broke in, shouting. "When Irina told them about Nessie, _they thought she was an immortal child_! Get—it—in—your—head! Irina's family, Irina's mother, immortal children—you do the math! Irina hates immortal children _because_ of what happened to her mother! Think, people, think! You're supposed to be _smart_!"

They all stared at me, their mouths agape. Alice said to me, "But she hasn't made the decision to go to the Volturi about it yet."

"Yes, she has! Nessie being so close to you had clouded your future-seeing." I crossed my arms. "Trust me, I know she has."

"Erin, could you please attempt to calm yourself down?" I looked over and saw Jasper holding his head in his hands, eyes closed tight.

"Sorry," I said. "I'll try." Actually, I was surprised I hadn't woken the baby up.

"Erin, was your temper increased when you were changed?" Briana asked from where she was sitting on the top step, listening to our conversation. "Because I don't recall you ever being _that_ loud."

"Shut up," I called up to her, and I heard her snicker. The air in the room was tense.

"They're wrong, though," Bella said, her eyes wide and terrified. I hadn't realized throughout all my ranting that Bella had gone over to shield her daughter.

"They won't wait for us to show them that." Edward told her gently. You'd never know he'd attacked me a few minutes ago.

"What can we do?" Bella asked.

I held my breath. This one choice was crucial, and if they decided elsewise, they would be dead. Carlisle noticed, but thankfully didn't say a thing.

"We fight," Emmett said calmly.

"We can't win," Jasper growled.

"Well, we can't run. Not with Demetri around." Emmett made a disgusted noise, upset by the idea of running. "And I don't know that we _can't_ win," he said. "There are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight alone."

Bella's head snapped up at that. "We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to their death, either, Emmett!"

"Chill, Bella." He said. "I didn't mean the pack. Be realistic, though—do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now, too. But I was thinking some of our other friends."

Carlisle whispered. "Other friends we don't have to sentence to death."

"Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett said in a placating tone. "I'm not saying they have to fight with us. If they'd just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Thought that might take away any reason for a fight…"

I wanted to hit him for saying that. Actually, I almost did.

"Yes," Esme said eagerly. "That makes sense, Emmett. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to _listen_."

"We'd need quite a show of witnesses," Rose said harshly.

Esme nodded in agreement, as if she hadn't heard the sarcasm in her daughter's tone. "We can ask that much of our friends. Just to witness."

"We'd do it for them," Emmett said.

"We'll have to ask them just right," Alice murmured. "They'll have to be shown very carefully."

"Shown?" Jasper asked.

"Tanya's family," she said. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's. Some of the nomads—Garrett and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair."

"What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked half fearfully.

"Maybe."

"The Amazons?" Carlisle asked. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?"

"I can't see."

"What was that?" Edward asked, his whisper a demand. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see," Alice repeated. Liar. "We'll have to split up and hurry—before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them." She zoned out. "Ask Eleazer. There is more to this than just an immortal child."

There was silence for another long moment while Alice was in her trance. I tried to read her mind, and got bits and pieces of a jungle, but that's all I got. She blinked slowly when it was over. "There is so much. We have to hurry," she whispered.

"Alice?" Edward asked. "That was too fast—I didn't understand. What was—?"

"I can't see!" she exploded at him. "Jacob's almost here!"

Rosalie took a step toward the front door. "I'll deal with—"

"No, let him come," Alice said quickly, her voice strained. She grabbed Jasper's hand and began pulling him toward the back door. "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. I need to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no time to waste!"

We all could hear Jacob on the stairs. Alice yanked, impatient, on Jasper's hand. He followed quickly, confusion in his eyes just like Edward's. They darted out the door into the silver night.

"Hurry!" Alice called back to us. "You have to find them all!"

"Find what?" Jacob asked, shutting the front door behind himself. "Where'd Alice go?"

No one answered; they all stared at where Alice and Jasper had disappeared.

Jacob shook the rain from his hair and then pulled his arms through the sleeves of his t-shirt, his eyes on Renesmee. "Hey Bells! I thought you guys would've gone home by now…"

He looked up to Bella finally, blinked, and then stared. Bella watched his expression as the room's atmosphere finally touched him. Jake glanced down, eyes wide, at the wet spot on the floor, the scattered roses, the fragments of crystal. His fingers quivered.

"What?" he asked flatly. "What happened?"

No one answered him. I was still aware I was holding my breath, so I let it out in one big _whoosh_.

Jacob crossed the room in three long strides and dropped to his knees beside Renesmee and Bella.

"Is she okay?" he demanded, touching Renesmee's forehead, tilting his head as he listened to her heart. "Don't mess with me, Bella, please!"

"Nothing's wrong with Renesmee," Bella choked out.

"Then who?"

"All of us, Jacob," Bella whispered. "It's over. We've all been sentenced to die."


	16. 15 Meeting the Denalis

Alice and Jasper never came back that night. In fact, they didn't come back _at all_. Everyone was frenzied about Alice's vision about the Volturi. Bella and Edward stared into each other's eyes the whole night. Jake was sleeping in wolf form in the corner of the room, snoring like a chainsaw, and twitching anxiously every once in a while. Carlisle had thought it was best that Briana to be changed before the Volturi came, but Briana refused saying, and I quote: "If you try to change me against my will like you did to Erin, I'll make sure Erin rips you apart and burns the pieces herself!" That seemed to shut him up about the topic.

Anyway, Bri and I were borrowing Alice's Porsche so we could go to Briana's apartment to get some of her stuff without freaking her neighbors out that we'd 'walked' there. Yep, Bri was officially moving in with us until the trouble was all sorted out.

"What's my mom's name?" I asked her as I drove down the road at over 90 miles an hour. I'd actually been curious about a lot of things, but this was the first thing that came out.

"Jodi. My mom and her had been keeping in touch before…well, you know, before I came here," she answered me.

"And my dad's name?"

"Brandon. He used to play tag and hide-and-go-seek with us all the time," she smiled at the memories.

"Do I have any siblings?" It seemed weird asking about my life, almost like I had amnesia.

"One. Older sister," she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "About four years older than you."

"That bad?" I asked her wryly.

"Well…Sosha was always playing pranks on us, and stuff. One time when we were baking cookies—with your mom's supervision, of course—she'd somehow slipped salt in your mom's 'precious sugar shaker,' and, well...let's just say that those cookies were meant for the dogs." She chuckled a little.

"We're here," I announced as I pulled into the parking lot. It was only eight in the morning, and I heard some of the people in the building grumbling about 'early morning suckers' or something like that.

We got out of the car and waltzed on in. Briana's apartment was on the second floor. She unlocked the door and hurried inside, me following her. The apartment was like your average apartment; small kitchen, one bedroom, small living space, small bathroom with a barely working shower…that's basically it. Bri made a bee-line for the bedroom while I looked around. She'd made the place as neat as she could, by the looks of it. It reminded me of the old lady's apartment I used to visit when I was little—probably my grandma's. There were pillows in cradled in the arms of the couch, blankets neatly stacked in a basket, books placed in alphabetical order on the bookshelf...one of those books caught my eye—a red and black one, with some white. _Twilight_. I dashed over to the bookshelf and whipped said book off of it. It was one of the earlier copies that didn't have one of those '#1 _New York Times_ bestseller' captions and it was paperback. In my mind, it was ironic that one of these books was in the world it was about.

"Ugh! Erin, could ya give me a hand? This is kinda heavy." Briana's voice brought me out of my staring contest with the book.

"Coming," I said, putting the book back on the shelf. I walked into her room, at human speed, and saw she was struggling to pick up a box.

"Help?" she squeaked.

I chuckled and took it from her, holding it effortlessly. "How many more boxes are you gonna need?"

"I dunno," she muttered as she rummaged her closet for another box. "Now that I think of it, I think it's kinda creepy that my best friend is a vampire."

"Why d'you say that?" I asked. She emerged from the closet holding a box the size of a microwave.

"I dunno. Just kinda strange, I guess." She walked out of the room, heading towards the bathroom.

"I'm gonna run this out to the car," I said, strolling out of the apartment.

"'Kay," my friend muttered, knowing I could hear her.

I was about to walk outside, but once I opened the door, I saw that the sun was out. Crap. I groaned, and walked back up the stairs towards her apartment.

"Hey, Bri?" I asked once I walked into the room. "The suns out, do you have a hoodie I could borrow?"

"Yeah! There's one in my closet," she shouted back.

I found the hoodie easily—it was a purple one that had VIKINGS written across the top of it—and put it on. It was a little small, but it would work. I grabbed the box again and made my way outside with the hood up. An hour later, Bri was ready to go. When we were leaving, I quickly grabbed the _Twilight_ book. Something told me we were gonna need it, but I didn't know what. As I was starting the car, my vision started to slowly turn black. Crap, vision.

I was panicking, sort of, but quickly I asked, "Bri, do you know how to drive a Porsche?"

"Yeah…" she said a little too slowly.

"Good, 'cause I need you to drive," I said before I was no longer there with her. Distantly, I felt something shaking my shoulder. A few minutes later, everything was still black, and I felt myself walking and then being seating someplace. Then, I was in the blizzard—again. Only this time it was different. I saw myself in the truck again with Seth, but he was asleep this time. The vision-me was crying—no, more like _sobbing_ , with tears running down her cheeks. The Seth in the vision jolted awake slowly. The car passed by me, and I decided to follow it. I saw both of the vision versions of Seth and I talking, but strangely couldn't hear them. Then, I saw the really old car with the drunk driver in it. It was like I was seeing the dang thing for the first time—it was one of those cars that if it got in an accident, it would crush the car it ran into, but would come out perfectly fine. I growled at the driver in there who was grinning like an idiot.

The next thing I knew, the cars had rammed into each other. The whole front of my car was totally demolished, so it looked like a shortened version of it. The vision-me hit her head on the steering wheel, instantly knocking her out and I heard the sickening crunch of the bones in her legs shattering. The driver sort of swerved, then drove away as if nothing had happened. _Meanwhile_ , with nobody driving my truck, it skidded on the ice, and flipped over a few times into the ditch! I heard feeble voices come from the vehicle a few minutes later…

"Erin?" That was vision-Seth. "Erin, are you still alive?"

"S-Seth…?" The whisper was so soft, yet so loud in my ears. "I-I'm so…I'm so sorry…" she slurred.

"No!" The Seth in the car seemed to try to shout, but it was only a strained whisper. I could smell blood in the truck. "Stay with me, Erin, you hear that? Stay with me! Don't you die on me! I love you!"

After a few seconds of ragged breathing, I heard her whisper again: "I-I love…I love…" She was silent. Very silent. After a few seconds of deadly silence, I heard her let out a peaceful sigh, and her— _my_ —heard stopped beating.

"No! Erin!" Came the hoarse whispers of the vision-Seth. I heard him trying to struggle out of the banged up truck. "Erin! Please don't be dead! Erin!" His struggles were becoming feebler. No, Seth! Don't die, too! "Erin…Erin…" He stopped moving. NO! I didn't think, I just ran toward the wreck. And this was when I realized I wasn't seeing the future, I was _in_ it. I was a time traveler, and there _was_ a way to prevent things! When I was on the passenger side of the car, I ripped the door off its hinges, and the vision-Seth moaned quietly. I searched through his thoughts, and he thought I was an angel, and he was dead. He was also wondering how the hell my eyes had become liquid butterscotch again.

"Seth, I'm from the past," she whispered. "This is the one thing I saw I _did not_ want you to know about." In truth, I was _not_ going to tell Seth about this! "I can travel through time. Those times I spaced out? I was time traveling uncontrollably. I don't regret saving your life. Please, life your life. Don't die." And with that, I forced myself to return to the present.

 **LINE BREAK**

As soon I regained the sense of my surrounding, I was bombarded by questions:

"Erin, what did you see?" Seth asked immediately.

"Erin, could you tell me why I had to drive to the Cullen's house and get _lost_ five or six times?!" Bri demanded.

"Did you see something about the Volturi?" Carlisle asked.

And they were all asking this at the same time.

"Everyone SHUT UP!" I screeched. "Carlisle: No, it had nothing to do with the Volturi. Bri: I'm sorry, but I can't control it, and Seth: I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

I realized I was in Carlisle's study when I heard Emmett chuckle from the living room. "Seems like Erin's joined the living dead again."

"Erin, what do you mean you can't tell me?" Seth asked.

"Bri, would you come downstairs with me and join the others?" Carlisle turned to my friend, sensing we'd rather be in the room alone.

"Sure," she said awkwardly, following him out of the room.

Once we were alone, I said, "I'm _so_ sorry, but I just can't tell you."

"Why?" He was trying a sad-eyes look on me, and I almost gave in. Almost.

"I-I…" I never knew a vampire could stutter. "I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry Seth. I…can't. I know that's not a good enough reason, but I have a darn good reason to keep from you. _Please_ understand."

"I do. I don't like it that you're keeping something from me, but…I'm okay with it."

I breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief. I whispered, "Thank you."

After a long moment of silence, I asked, "Were Alice and Jasper allowed on the rez to get to the ocean?"

Seth nodded. "Yeah. Everyone's worried about them. You know where they're going?"

I blocked mine and Seth's minds from Edward as I thought to him. _South America_.

"Why there?"

With the both of our minds still blocked, I answered him. _I probably shouldn't tell you, but they're looking for another half-human-half-vampire like Nessie. They succeed._

"Really?" He asked, grinning and excited a little.

 _Yep. They come back right during the 'standoff' with the Volturi with a hundred something year old half-breed called Nahuel. It's enough to convince the Volturi to leave._ _Make sure you don't let Edward know about this though_. I played in my mind how Aro would find out everything we have been doing by reading Edward's mind with one touch.

"Yeah, that would not be good," he agreed.

"Have they contacted Tanya's family yet?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah, actually. They'll be here in a few minutes," Seth told me uncertainly. "You've been out of it for a _long_ time. Over a day, actually. The only reason I'm less than a hundred yards of this building is because of you."

"Oh, you should go then," I said hastily, getting up off the chair I was in. "They don't exactly approve of the truce at first." I thought for a second. "Wait, strike that, Jake's going to be there, so it won't matter." _And I need a Diet Coke_. I added in my head. And then I heard I car slow down on the highway and pull into the long driveway. They were here. I raced downstairs at lightning speed into the living room where Tanya's family would be able to see me. Seconds later, Seth followed after me into the room and stood next to me.

Soon, the car in the driveway came to a halt and shut down. Edward opened the door for them before they could even knock.

"Edward!" Came Tanya's voice.

"Hello, Tanya. Kate, Eleazer, Carmen."

Kate, Eleazer, and Carmen murmured hellos.

"Carlisle said he needed to talk to us right away," Tanya said. "What's the problem? Trouble with werewolves?"

Seth scoffed, and I could picture Jacob rolling his eyes at that.

"No," Edward said. "Our truce with the werewolves is stronger than ever."

Tanya chuckled. "Aren't you going to invite us in?" she asked. "Where's Carlisle?"

"Carlisle had to leave."

"What's going on, Edward?" Tanya demanded after a short silence.

"If you could give me the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes," he answered. "I have something difficult to explain, and I'll need you to be open-minded until you understand."

"Is Carlisle all right?" Eleazer asked.

"None of us is all right, Eleazer," Edward said, and I heard him pat the guy's shoulder. "But physically, Carlisle is fine."

"Physically?" Tanya asked sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that my entire family is in very grave danger. But before I explain, I ask for your promise. Listen to everything I say before you react. I am begging you to hear me out."

A very long silence greeted him. Seth was tense.

"We're listening," Tanya finally said. "We will hear it all before we judge."

"Thank you, Tanya," Edward said fervently. "We wouldn't involve you in this if we had any other choice."

Edward moved away from the door, and the four Alaskans walked through the doorway. Tanya saw me, and asked, "Is this a part of your problem?"

Edward chuckled, but it was a dark, morbid chuckle. "No. But she _does_ know the outcome of it, somehow."

They just nodded, as if this type of thing was normal.

Tanya sniffed then, and wrinkled her nose. She muttered, "I knew those werewolves were involved." She narrowed her eyes at Seth, and then turned back to Edward.

"Yes," Edward said, also glancing at Seth, "and they're on our side. Again."

The reminder silenced Tanya.

"Where's your Bella?" Kate asked. "How is she?"

"She'll be joining us shortly. She's well, thank you. She's taken to immortality with amazing finesse."

"Tell us about the danger, Edward," Tanya said quietly. "We'll listen, and we'll be on your side, where we belong."

Edward took a deep breath. "I'd like you to witness for yourselves first. Listen—in the other room, not the living room. What do you hear?"

It was quiet while they listened to the heartbeats in the other room. Eleazer started to walk into the dining room, but Edward stopped him. "Just listen, please."

"A werewolf, I assume. I can hear his heart," Tanya said.

"What else?" Edward asked.

They paused while they listened.

"What is that thrumming?" Kate asked. "Is that…some kind of bird?"

"No, but remember what you're hearing. Now, what do you smell? Besides the werewolf."

"Is there a human here?" Eleazer asked.

"No," Tanya disagreed. "It's not human…but…closer to human than the rest of the scents here. What is that, Edward? I don't think I've ever smelled that fragrance before."

"You most certainly have not, Tanya. Please, _please_ remember that this is something entirely new to you. Throw away your preconceived notions."

"I promised you I would listen, Edward."

"All right, then. Bella? Bring Renesmee, please."

A few seconds after he said that, Bella slowly walked out of the dining room, her long hair draped over Renesmee, Jake following close behind her. Renesmee peaked out from around her mother's hair, and I was still surprised to this day that all hell didn't break loose. Tanya skittered back a few steps, poised in a defensive crouch. Kate sprung all the way to the front door, tense against the wall, while Eleazer took a protective stance in front of Carmen.

"Oh _please_ ," I heard Jacob complain under his breath.

Then I groaned.

"What is it?" Carmen asked.

"Nothing," I muttered, and then I made sure it was almost inaudible to everyone. "I'd just forgotten how _long_ this chapter is! Come on, Seth. Let's go run."

I knew what would happen, so I wasn't going to stay to watch. Seth and I ran out of the house, and I waited for him to phase once we were in the woods. When he'd joined me again, we ran off hunting.


	17. 16 Time Traveler

We hunted for quite a while. Seth still wanted to know what I'd 'seen,' but didn't bother me about it. The book I'd taken from Bri's apartment was officially still hidden in the trunk of Alice's car. As you can see, I had yet to take it out of there. Anyway, I was trying to have fun by messing around with a grizzly bear, and Seth was standing out of the way in human form, leaning against a tree with a smirk of amusement on his face.

It was too easy. I sort of wrestled with it before sinking my teeth into its neck, drinking all of its blood before it could struggle. I left the carcass where it was, at my feet, and jogged over to Seth.

"Are those Alaska vampires gonna stay and witness?" he asked.

"Yep. There is going to be _a lot_ of vampires in the house in the coming month."

"How many?"

"About…32; give or take a few."

His eyes widened. "That many? And do they all drink animal blood?"

I grimaced. "No. I'm not sure where they hunt, just not anywhere around here."

Seth nodded once. "Good. To the not hunting around here, I mean."

"Yeah, and that vampire index wasn't very clear," I mumbled.

"'Vampire index?'" Seth asked, very confused.

"It's this index at the back of the book that lists all the vampires that would be here, or that you have met by coven in alphabetical order."

"And there are 32 vampires in that list?"

"More than that," I said. "There's also the Volturi on the list and their guard. And there's James and Victoria on it, and Laurent. Plus Sasha and Vasilii—they were a part of the Denali coven. And the nomad lists are only partial, as is the guard's."

His eyes seemed to get wider as I went on. "Whoa, that's a heck of a lot of vamps."

I chuckled. "No kidding." I sighed, my smile fading. "We should get back to the house, though. I want to be there in case they need to know about anything."

He phased again, and we ran back to the house. As we drew nearer, I heard a conversation going on between Edward and Eleazer.

"Eleazer, when Erin and Seth get back, would you mind telling me what sort of power Erin has?"

"Not a problem, my dear friend. A very talented family you've got, though. A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother, and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with. I wonder if there is a name for what she does, or if it is the norm for a vampire hybrid. As if such a thing could ever be considered normal! A vampire hybrid, indeed!"

I toned them out and kept running. I sighed.

 _What is it_? Seth thought.

"Nothing. They're just discussing Bella's power."

 _Oh._ He was silent for a few seconds. _What's her power?_

"She's a mental shield. That's why Edward can't read her mind."

Finally, we came up to the house. We burst through the back door, and walked calmly through to the living room.

Edward cleared his throat after I went to stand near one of the corners in the room closer to the window. I turned around. "Erin, I was wondering if you'd let Eleazer figure out what exactly your power is."

Then, Jacob decided to speak up. "Seth, I need you to go on patrol."

"Okey-dokey." He kissed me on the cheek, and jogged out of the house.

"So," I said simply. "My power."

"Yes," Eleazer said. "Bella, we will discuss more about your shield in a little bit." He studied me for a few seconds. "I believe she is also a shield, and also telepathic."

"Really?" Bella asked. "How can she have more than one power?"

"It is not impossible, it is just uncommon, I think." Eleazer raised an eyebrow. "She also seems to be a time-traveler."

Crap, the secret was out. Nobody moved, nobody breathed—apart from those who needed to—and nobody made a single sound. It was a room of statues.

"Hey, I only recently found out about it earlier before the Denali's came over, so give me a break!" I said, trying to break the silence. Didn't work. I sighed, and tried again. "What is it, some sort of ultra-rare power, or something?"

"I don't know," Eleazer answered. Well, at least _somebody_ talked. "It is, however, a power that the Volturi would want to have on their guard. They'd have the power to change anything, whether it is in the past or future."

Alrighty…At lease I now knew what those weird dreams I had were about now. I'd time traveled—I think.

Edward shook his head. "No, that was purely your imagination going wild."

"What was, Edward?" Tanya asked.

"I was referring to very…imaginative dreams Erin had when she stayed here while she was still human," Edward answered. "How things could happen so quickly in just a few seconds is quite impossible."

I raised my hand.

"Yes. Erin?" Edward addressed me.

"May I point out that I was able to control my shield quite well when I was human?" I pointed out.

Eleazer's eyes widened. "Interesting. You had complete control of it?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm. And I think I'm able to choose who to block from my mind."

This time, it was Edward's turn for his eyes to widen. "What?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. I started experimenting with it after my four weeks of 'zombie days.'" The four Alaskans looked at me quizzically, so I enlightened them on the subject. "I had no memory of the events of four weeks, about a week before Renesmee was born."

And then Eleazer jumped back into the conversation about Bella's power. I just zoned out, staring out the back window wall. _Talented_ , this chapter was called. All of us were talented indeed. Well, most of us, anyway. Absentmindedly, I dashed up the stairs to the attic. I needed a Diet Coke. I walked down the stairs at human pace, and when I reached the bottom step, I popped it open.

"Is that a human drink?" Carmen asked as I took a sip.

I nodded. "Yep." And I took another sip.

"How is your body able to handle it?"

I chuckled. "My body thinks its blood. It treats it just like animal blood."

"But—that's impossible," she exclaimed.

I grinned. "Not with me." I took another sip, and then shrugged, studying the can. I drained it of its content in ten seconds. I flitted over to the backyard and sat down at the riverbank. I wanted to try something: I thought about some random dim memory of myself walking a dark alleyway…And suddenly, I was no longer in the backyard.

I was crouched down in a defensive pose on the roof of a warehouse, the moonlight reflecting off of my face, looking down into a dark alleyway where I saw a slim female figure walking swiftly towards a row of run-down apartment buildings. Now I remembered this night well. I was supposed to visit my cousin who lived in a bad neighborhood in Minneapolis. He had recently been in a car accident, and I was supposed to head over there to give him company. We had already been great friends since we were both three.

Sadly enough, you couldn't get to his neighborhood by car—residents only, for some really strange reason. I had to park a block away from the house, and the only parking spaces I could find was in an abandoned warehouse parking lot. I remember some strange men coming out of the warehouse, walking towards me with one purpose on their minds on what they would do with me. I don't remember much of that night, only that someone very, very pale had attacked the men, and I'd ran the rest of the way to the apartment. To this day I still didn't know what happened to them. Until now, I had a pretty good idea who'd saved me.

I watched closely, waiting for the men to come out. I didn't have to wait very long. They came sauntering out, at ease, not suspecting what was on the rooftops above them. I waited till they were a few feet away from my past self, who had frozen with fear. And then I jumped down to the asphalt below.

My past self froze when I made eye contact with her for a split second, and then I punched the first of the three guys I saw. The force was enough to knock him out. In the corner of my eye, I saw my past self safely make to the apartment building like she was supposed to.

I glared at the other two men who were still standing. They were backing away real slowly. "If any of you wants to end up like him, I suggest you get out of here _now_." I snarled at them.

"H-How did you—" One of them made pointing motions towards the apartment complex, and then to me, and back to the complex again. The other one dropped to the ground in a dead faint from terror. It wasn't every day you saw someone's 'clone' standing right in front of you.

I growled at him—literally—and he stumbled backwards, tripping over one of his buddies. "That is for me to know, and for you to keep to yourself." And then I punched him. I got one last look at this place before I was back in the Cullen's backyard.

It took me a while to come to my senses, but finally I realized I was shaking uncontrollably, with Seth sitting at my side.

"Shh, Erin, it's okay," he mumbled, rubbing my back, not yet aware that I was back to the present. "It'll be over soon."

"I-I'm okay," I whispered to him.

"What did you see?" I'd almost forgotten that Seth didn't know I was a time traveler.

Quickly, I told him, but from my past self's point of view.

"Wow," he said quietly. "That's kinda weird you weren't watching it this time, you were actually experiencing it."

"I have to admit, it was really scary." I winced mentally; I hated lying to him. "But I'm fine now, don't worry."

He hugged me, and I hugged him back. He said, "I'm sure the visions will stop soon."

Oh, how wrong he was.


	18. 17 Taking Someone With

The house was _crowded_ —and that was lightly putting it. Imagine you're at the Minnesota State Fair in one of those buildings where they advertise a bunch of stuff. Now imagine the crowd in one of those buildings—something like that. If you've never been there, just let me say this: it can get really crowded in those buildings.

The wolves were glad that all of the human blood-drinkers all hunted out of state. Also, Peter and Charlotte stopped by, who were both completely enchanted by Renesmee, and were going to stay and witness. The covens from Ireland and Egypt were here. I found Siobhan likable, with a nice personality, though her mate, Liam, didn't like me for some reason. Maggie, the newest edition to their coven, was very nice—I envied her of her power to know when she was lied too, and she'd even confirmed I was telling the truth about that. This may seem a little weird, but I was still mentally laughing at that.

Like Bella says in the book, the Egyptian coven was a different story. Amun was very protective, and seemed a little hard-headed, whereas his mate, Kebi, seemed very nice. For some reason, I was the only one Amun allowed her to speak to. I found Benjamin and Tia very likeable, and was very intrigued by Ben's gift.

I was also continuing to train my time-traveling so that I wouldn't be random. So now, they only happen involuntarily every other day. I must say, that it's a relief to be able to partially control them.

It's kinda strange, though, with none of the Cullens in the house besides Renesmee, Edward, and Bella. Okay, sorry, I just realized I'm rambling…

"Have you tried taking anything with you when you Travel, Erin?" Eleazer asked me one afternoon while I was studying the forest behind the house through the window wall.

I shook my head, not tearing my eyes away from the forest. "No. I didn't even think it would be possible."

"You're power might grow so that if someone touches your skin while you travel, they instantly go to where you are."

I shrugged. "Maybe. You want me to try, or something?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be the guinea pig, but maybe you could get one of the Cullens to try it with you?"

Again, I shrugged. I didn't know why, but I was feeling awfully depressed. "Maybe."

"I'd be willing to try it," said a booming voice without warning. I jumped, and then turned around to see Emmett, grinning like an idiot. "Ha! I made you jump! And, I mean, time-traveling isn't something you get to do every day."

"We'll try it later." I faced the window again. There was literally nothing to do, nothing to think about, nothing to ponder. I was just a statue in the living room, basically. Ok, so maybe I wasn't depressed, I was just bored out of my mind. I mean, yeah, it was fun to have so many people in the house, but it was driving me crazy. Who knew a vampire could suffer from crowded-room-stress?

About a day later, Garrett came along and stayed to witness. Also, these Mary and Randall people—I had no idea who the heck they were, which surprised Edward—stayed to witness. Alistair was his usual self, as described in the book. To my distaste, he stayed up in the attic pretty much the whole time, other than hunting, which drove me craze; I'd have to find a new place to put my stash for a while (also, I'm hiding the Coke from the wolves). Seriously, though, that Alistair guy is creepy.

When the Amazons arrived, I almost literally ran away screaming. They looked like female versions of Tarzan, and had this look on their face that suggested that anyone who messed with them was going to die. At least, that's what they looked like every time I saw them.

Emmett and I had finally gotten around to trying to 'bring him with me' when I Traveled. The first time, it didn't work. The second time, he got only a glimpse of it. The third time we tried, however, was when Kate was trying to train Bella's shield. We were standing by the river, far away from Bella, who made the 'if looks could kill' saying definitely real. The only one standing with us was Rosalie.

"Emmett, I don't understand why anyone else can't try," I complained. Seriously, it seemed like the bigger the person, the harder it was.

"I want to be the first one," he shot back, though he was grinning like a moron.

"Fine," I grumbled. I picked a random memory—a slumber party I had where my friends and I had watched _Twilight_ movies all night. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop it before I was no longer in the backyard.

Strangely enough, I was invisible to the people in the vision. I looked around for Emmett and practically jumped out of my skin when I saw him standing next to me.

"Don't do that to me!" I yell-whispered at him. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"We're vampires," he corrected. "We don't get heart attacks." He looked around what appeared to be my parent's living room, which was covered in sleeping bags, with nail polish bottles and Q-tips strewn across the coffee table, and had four teenage girls staring eagerly at a very early flat screen TV. It was the first _Twilight_ movie, and it was at the part where James attacks Bella.

"Okay, first of all, James looked _nothing_ like that," Emmett said, pointing at the TV. He winced when the nomad bit Bella. "Second of all—wasn't Bella unconscious when we got there?"

I grimaced, knowing firsthand what she had gone through. "Yeah. When they made the movie, they didn't really follow every detail in the book."

"Oh." He looked a little horrified. "I'm still in it, right?"

I burst out laughing. " _Duh_! Though your part in that movie—" I pointed at the TV. "—isn't very big."

He pouted. "Why? I the star, ain't I?"

I chuckled. "My favorite part of that movie is the vampire baseball part, even though it doesn't look realistic."

I decided it was time to go back, and my vision started to fade.

"Hey, why can't I see anything?" Emmett asked, throwing his hands out in front of him like a blind person.

"We're going back to the present," I said. And then suddenly, we were in the backyard again.

"Oh," Emmett said, a little too late. I laughed when he actually had his hands out in front of him. He lowered them to his sides. "Okay, I have to admit, that was awesome." Then he thought for a second. "Next time, though, let's go to an arcade instead of a slumber party."

"I've never been to an arcade in my life, Emmett," I said to him.

"Yeah, well, I have! Maybe if I give you the date and place—"

I growled at him, but not in a threatening way. "Fine!"

As I was walking away, I heard him whisper, "Yes!"

Immature boys will be immature boys.


	19. 18 Number One Annoying Person

Okay, so I wasn't thrilled with Kate right now-she was trying to get me to strengthen my shield. It already picking was! And still, she didn't listen. I hate that vampire.

"Erin, are you sure you're focusing?" Kate asked me as I got up from the ground after being Tasered by her for what seemed the millionth time-technically, it was only the tenth, but I was kinda pissed off.

"It's kinda hard to focus when you're pissed off, Kate," I growled at her.

"Come on! I'm only trying to help."

"I know, but it doesn't seem like that right now," I said through gritted teeth. I sighed, trying to concentrate on my shield and not how annoying Kate was. Closing my eyes, I said, "Again."

She placed her hands on my arm. "Ready? Three…two…one!"

I felt a faint shock, but stayed standing. I felt Kate remove her hands, and then she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asker her coolly, opening my eyes.

She didn't say anything. She just laughed and pointed at my head. Soon, other people joined in with her. What was so _funny_? I looked into Kate's mind and saw through her eyes what she thought was funny. My hair looked like a balloon with static-electricity had been run across it-i.e. my hair was standing on end _everywhere_ , so it looked like a long-haired Alice impersonation. Jeez, why hadn't I chosen to put it in a ponytail?

I growled at Kate, and tried to say my next sentence calmly. You could still tell I was angry, though. "That's not funny. You must've forgotten-I'm a newborn. And my normal temper I already have, mixed in with a newborn's temper is not pretty. You have five seconds to get the heck outta here, or you'll find yourself missing an arm or two."

She stopped laughing and stared at me with wide eyes. "Are you serious?"

She seemed to get the hint when I snarled at her, and she high-tailed it into the house. I was still growling as I flattened my hair down, when Seth came up to me.

"Wow, what happened to you?" He asked, grinning.

I was still growling-it seemed like a never-ending purr of an engine. "Kate."

"How?"

"Do you know of anyone on the Volturi's guard?" I asked, my hair finally flattened. He shook his head. "Well, there's this one girl, Jane, who has the ability to give someone the illusion that they're burning just by looking at them. Kate can do something similar to that, only whoever touches her falls to the ground like they'd been Tasered." I added with a growl. "Apparently, her power can electrify hair if she does it just right."

"What? Were you the guinea pig, or something?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I growled at him.

"Okay, okay! Sorry," he said, no longer fighting the previous smile. "It's just not everyday that happens, you know?"

He had a point-even though I was Kate's enemy #1 right now.

"Remind me to never let that girl near my hair again," I grumbled, and grabbed the can of Diet Coke that I'd put down before Kate roped me into her 'training.'

"Where do you keep getting that stuff?" Seth asked as I took a long drink.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," I said, smirking.

"Aw, c'mon, that's not fair!" he whined. I turned to look at him, and saw he was giving me puppy eyes.

I glared at him. "Don't you dare give me the puppy eyes, Seth Clearwater." I said threateningly.

"Please?" he asked.

"No," I said firmly. I wasn't being mean to him, he knew that. "You don't even _like_ Diet Coke!"

He grimaced. "Wait, it's Diet _Coke_?" He wrinkled his nose, and whispered. "Yeesh. What is this world getting to? What happened to the Diet Pepsi?"

"The Pepsi company copied to Coke company," I informed him.

"Too smart for her own good," Seth muttered.

"Hey, Seth!" I looked up to see Jake running up to us. "I need you out on patrol."

"See ya." I smiled, and he kissed me on the cheek.

"See ya," he echoed me, and ran into the forest tailing Jake.

"Come on, try it!" Emmett had cornered me in a, well, corner of the living room. He had a plate of human food in his hand; it was a slice of the homemade pizza I'd made for the wolves, and a few chips. "You handle that Coke well, why not this?"

"Seriously, Em, I'm feeling like a caged animal right now," I said, panicked, but also growling a bit. "If you don't get out of the way, you might end up with a missing limb."

"Come on, Erin! Seth and I made a bet-"

"You and Seth made a _bet_ that I'd try human food?" I shrieked. Seriously, the caged animal feeling wasn't helping.

"Well…I kinda forced the guy into it." He shrugged. "I said you'd eat it, and he said you wouldn't. Come on, Erin, I'm gonna loose 20 dollars if you don't eat this!"

"Did you think I'd swallow it, or spit it out?" I asked warily. There was no way to get out of this, so I mind as well trick him.

"Well, technically, swallowing _is_ eating it, and spitting it out after you put it in your mouth is not eating it, so…I think you'll swallow it?"

Emmett had gotten an audience to watch by now. Stupid, completely stupid.

I picked a chip off the plate, and Emmett looked a little hopeful. "I'm not making any guarantees I'm gonna swallow it." His grin faded a bit, but he looked confident.

Slowly, I brought the chip up to my mouth; it was a cool ranch flavored Dorito. I sniffed a little bit. It sure didn't _smell_ good, that was for sure-kinda like rotten eggs, but not really. It's hard to describe.

I could hear some person eagerly shouting in their mind, _Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!_

And then I put the chip in my mouth, and chewed on it a few times. The taste in my mouth wasn't what I expected from reading the books. I expected it to taste like dirt, or mud, or something. Nope, as if I would be so lucky. It tastes like dirt, yeah, but it also had a mixture of some weird pinecone taste in it. There's just three words to describe it: It. Was. Gross!

Quick as lighting, I spit it out. Unfortunatly for Emmett, it was spat in his face. He just blinked, and wiped the venom covered mush off.

"You know," he started. "for a vampire who can consume Diet Coke, you sure have a really limited taste in food."

Oookay, then. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"You can tell your boyfriend that I owe him my precious 20 dollars, and he can let me borrow you for a night."

"Emmett!" I shouted. "Don't you _dare_ start up with that!"

 _It annoying the crap outta me in the book, I don't need it in real life_! I thought to him, snarling as I did it.

"Jeez, time-traveler lady, calm down. I was only kidding." I dug in the pocket of his khaki shorts. "Here." He slapped a 20 dollar bill in my hand. "Give this to Seth."

I stuffed the money in my back pocket and skipped away from the corner. About halfway across the living room, I discovered that the nonhuman taste of the chip was in my mouth. I darted to my stash-which was in Edward's old room now-and chugged a whole can down.

Why on _earth_ did Stephenie Meyer have to make Emmett so _annoying_?

"I heard that!" Emmett voice boomed from inside the house.

"Shut up!" I shouted back. That guy was worse than my dad. I think. Emmett McCarty Cullen has officially made #1 on my top ten annoying people list.

"I try!" He shouted.

"Shut up," I mumbled. "Rose? If he annoys you, I pity you greatly."


	20. 19 The Romanians

Kate stayed away from me for a whole day, surprisingly enough. She was extremely stubborn in the book, so I'm kind of glad she actually listened to me. Kate was outside training Bella again, trying using Renesmee to see if she could extend her shield better if she was angry. It was working. Then, a few minutes later, Zafrina- -the one who can make illusions, stepped in. I was about 10 feet away from Bella, but not next to Kate. More like up against the side of the house like her.

"No one panic," Zafrina warned us who were near Bella. "I want to see how far she can extend."

There was a shocked gasp from everyone near her as our eyesight vanished- -everyone but me and Senna, who were prepared and/or expecting it. And I could no longer read my book. I was about to put my shield up so I could see, but…

"Erin, keep your shield down so we can see how far Bella can extend her shield, please," Edward said.

"Fine," I groaned. I stood up and leaned against the side of the house.

"Raise your hand when you get your sight back," Zafrina instructed us. "Now, Bella. See how many you can shield."

I heard a huff come from Bella. I knew the effort was exhausting her- -mentally, of course- -but she would get the shield ten feet in front of her first. Suddenly, I could see again, so I raised my hand, as did Kate. As if it was almost invisible, I saw some sort of transparent shimmering thing in the air crawling its way towards Garrett.

"That's probably the shield, Erin," Edward told me. "You can probably see it because you're a mental shield too."

"Fascinating," I said sarcastically.

Garrett raised his hand.

"Very good," Zafrina spoke too soon. "Now- -"

And just like that, I couldn't see anymore.

"Can I have a minute?" Bella panted after a minute.

"Of course," Zafrina said, and bada-bing, bada-boom, all of us near Bella could see again.

I took me, my book, and I inside the house where Briana was watching TV. She kept looking around nervously as if one of the nomads or another one of the human blood drinkers were going to attack her any second.

She jumped when she saw me, but calmed down after a second. "Oh, it's you."

"It's me," I said as I sat down next to her. "Are you sure you don't want to be changed?"

"Positive," She said. "Unless there's a reason."

"You could have a reason once the, er- -"

"Did Alice send you?" Carlisle asked from the front yard.

" _They_ get here," I said, motioning to the front yard.

"Who's _they_?" Briana asked.

"Them," I pointed to two men standing by the door who could enter in a Dracula contest and probably win. I stood up, and so did Bri.

"No one sent us," one of them answered Carlisle's question in a deep whispery voice. Briana flinched away and hid behind me. Luckily, the Romanians didn't notice.

"Then what brings you here?" Carlisle asked warily.

"Word travels," the other one answered. "We heard hints that Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering."

"We are not challenging the Volturi." Carlisle's voice was strained. "There has been a misunderstanding, that is all. A very serious misunderstanding, to be sure, but one we're hoping to clear up. What you see are witnesses. We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't- -"

"We don't care what they say you did," the first one interrupted. "And we don't care if you broke the law."

"No matter how egregiously," the second one inserted.

"We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged," said the first. "If there is any chance they will fall, we will be there to see it."

"Or even help defeat them," the second one added. "If we think you have a chance at success."

I hadn't noticed Edward had entered the room. "Bella?" he called. "Bring Renesmee here, please. Maybe we should test our Romanian visitors' claims."

Hesitantly, Bella stepped into the room, Renesmee in her arms.

The Romanian with the dark hair grinned when Bella came into view. "Well, well, Carlisle. You _have_ been naughty haven't you?"

"She's not what you think, Stefan."

"And we don't care either way," the one I now knew to be Vladimir replied. "As we said before."

"Then you're welcome to observe, Vladimir, but it is definitely not our plan to challenge the Volturi, as _we_ said before."

"Then we'll just cross our fingers," Stefan began.

"And hope we get lucky," Vladimir finished.

It took a long time after that for everyone to calm down after that and act like normal. Bri was still hiding by me, and it was obvious she was scared of the Romanians. As if the day couldn't get any more worse, Stefan noticed her.

"Ah, you have a pet human, Carlisle?" he asked, taking a step towards me and Briana. Instinctively, I stepped in front of my friend, completely hiding her from him, and snarled a threateningly at him.

"She is not and never be anybody's 'meal,' Stefan," Carlisle said firmly. "Is that clear?"

"Very well," the old vampire said grumpily. "It's a pity to pass up a tasty smelling meal, though. She smells better than any human I have come across."

Now that he said it, Briana did smell really good…No! You are _not_ going to attack your best friend!

"Stay away from her," I growled. "And maybe you'll live a little longer."

"Very well," Vladimir said.

 **LINE BREAK**

Thankfully, the Romanians kept to their word. If they hadn't they wouldn't take part in our little 'standoff.' Not that I cared.

All in all, we'd come up with seventeen witnesses- -the Irish, Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie; the Egyptians, Amun, Kebi, Benjamin, and Tia; the Amazons, Zafrina and Senna; the Romanians, Vladimir and Stefan; and the nomads, Charlotte and Peter, Garrett, Alistair, Mary, and Randal; and then me- -to supplement the family of twelve. Tanya, Kate, Eleazer, and Carmen insisted on being counted as part of the family, and Carlisle insisted that I be apart of the family also. We didn't know what to do with Briana yet.

We were going to see Charlie today, though- -for some reason, Bella had insisted that I'd come along, Briana also.

~Flashback~

" _This morning will be perfect," Bella said into the phone to Charlie._

"Is Jake coming with you guys _?" I heard Charlie through the speaker._

" _Probably. I'm going to bring a couple friends over, too."_

"Which friends _?"_

" _Do you remember Erin?"_

 _Charlie hesitated. "_ You mean the strange girl who had the red eyes _?"_

" _That's her. I'm bringing her and her best friend with," Bella answered._

"Maybe I should invite Billy, too. But…hmm. Maybe another time. _"_

 _Smart of him._

" _See you in a few," Bella told him, and hung up._

 _I went up to her. "Exactly why am I going with?"_

" _It's so we can discuss where Briana will be when the Volturi get here."_

" _Oh."_

~End of Flashback~

"Why can't we take your Ferrari?" Jacob complained at Bella when she got in Edward's Volvo with Renesmee. Briana and I piled into the back seat.

"Too conspicuous," Bella answered. "We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out, and wear Bri out."

Jacob grumbled but got into the front seat. Renesmee climbed from Bella's lap to his.

"How are you?" Bella asked him as she pulled out of the garage.

"How do you think? I'm sick of all these reeking bloodsuckers." He saw both mine and Bella's expressions, and spoke before Bella could answer. "Yeah, I know, I know. They're the good guys, they're here to help, they're going to save us all. Etcetera, etcetera. Say what you want, I still think Dracula One and Dracula Two are creep-tacular.

Bella smirked. "I don't disagree with you there."

"Why the hell is _she_ coming with, though?" Jacob asked, turning a little in his seat to sneak a glare at me.

"Well, I don't think we're going to let the Volturi see Briana," Bella began. "So we need to figure out where she's going to stay until they leave."

As Bella drove out of the driveway, Jacob asked, "How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?"

"For quite a while, actually,"

"Is something going on here besides visiting your dad?"

"Jake, you know how you're pretty good at controlling your thoughts around Edward?"

I noticed he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Luckily, Bri was taking a nap; I could tell, because her breathing was deep and even, and her heart was beating slowly like a sleeping person's.

Bella nodded her head, and I knew she kind of gestured towards Renesmee with her eyes. Also, I knew Bella had the feeling that I knew what she was up to. I quickly searched through her daughter's mind, and found out she wasn't paying attention, which was a good thing.

And so we drove in silence to Charlie's house.


	21. 20 An Appearance

Charlie had opened the door before Bella could knock.

"Hey, guys! It seems like it's been years! Look at you, Nessie! Come to Grampa! I swear you've grown half a foot. And you look skinny, Ness." He glared at Bella. "Aren't they feeding you up there?"

"It's the growth spurt," Bella muttered. "Hey, Sue," she called over his shoulder. I could smell chicken, tomato, garlic, and cheese coming from the kitchen. It probably only smelled better than the chip because it wasn't being shoved in my face. I could also smell fresh pine and packing dust.

Renesmee smiled; I knew she never talked in front of Charlie.

"Well, come on in out of the cold, kids. Where's my son-in-law?"

"Entertaining friends," Jacob said, and then snorted. "You're _so_ lucky you're out of the loop, Charlie. That's all I'm going to say.

Bella punched Jacob 'lightly' in the kidney while Charlie cringed at his words.

"Ow," Jake complained under his breath.

"Actually, Charlie, I have some errands to run," Bella said.

Jake shot a glance at her but didn't say anything.

"Behind on your Christmas shopping, Bells? You only have a few days, you know."

"Yeah, Christmas shopping," she said lamely.

"Don't worry, Nessie," he whispered in her ear. "I got you covered if your mom drops the ball."

"Lunch's on the table," Sue called from the kitchen. "C'mon, guys."

"See you later, Dad," Bella said, walking through the still open doorway.

Jacob, Charlie, Nessie, Briana, and Sue all sat down at the table to eat- -I was seriously surprised they could all fit. Nessie was only eating because it was in front of Charlie.

"Erin, you gonna eat anything?" Charlie asked me as he sat down. I was standing awkwardly in the entrance area.

"I already ate," I lied, shrugging. "Do you have any Diet Coke, though?"

Jacob snorted.

"We got a can or two in the fridge," Charlie said. "Help yourself."

"Thanks." I took one of the three cans in the fridge and sort of leaned against the counter while I sipped on it. They were eating chicken ravioli. Nessie only had a small portion, while Jacob totally pigged out.

"How're you and Seth doing, Erin?" Sue asked with a smirk.

"We're good," I said. "I don't know how to describe it- -we're not, like, kissing every chance we get. We just talk and have fun."

"What's this about you and Seth, Erin?" Charlie asked. "You're dating?"

"I wouldn't call it that." I took a sip. "Like I said, it's hard to describe."

He just nodded. "So, why are you and- -" he gestured to Bri with his fork "- -her here?"

"Well…" I hesitated, thinking fast. "We had planned to go on a vacation for a few days. Thing is, that was before Briana came to stay at the Cullen's. We were wondering if it would be okay with you if she could stay here while we're on vacation?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Charlie said immediately. "Why can't you take her with you, though?"

"The reservations had already been made," I said simply. "We tried to get her a plane ticket, but the airport said that it was impossible."

"Oh."

 _Bri_ , I thought to my friend. _Why can't you stay in your apartment?_

She seemed startled slightly at my voice in her head, but replied. _I haven't been paying the rent for the past few months, because I lost my job. The only way I got food at the store was through food stamps. So, really, I lost my apartment_.

 _Oh_. _Did you get everything you needed/wanted out of there when we were there?_

Bri nodded, but only so I could notice.

When everyone finished eating, we worked on putting Christmas decorations up. I was kind of happy that Briana was in the dark about a lot of things, even though she wasn't, because that would put her in less danger when Aro read Edward's mind at the standoff. Really, only Seth and I knew that it was going to be a standoff, nothing more. I was going to tell Bella, but that would ruin the whole plot of the book. I was so lost in thought, that I actually _tripped_ over my own feet. I _tripped_. Me, a vampire, _tripped_. I mean, seriously!

I grunted when I landed on the floor, and Jacob burst out laughing.

"Wow, Erin!" He choked out between the laughter. "When I tell Emmett- -"

"Don't you dare tell Emmett!" I threatened him as I got up, trying to keep myself from growling. "One word out of your mouth, Jacob Black, and I'll- -"

"Now, we'll be making no death threats in my home, abnormal or not," Charlie said, interrupting me. "People trip from time to time, it's nothing to be upset over."

"People like me _never_ trip," I mumbled, causing Jake to laugh again. "This was probably a first." That just caused made him laugh even harder. "Oh, shut up!"

"I'm still telling Emmett." He chuckled, and I growled so low only he could hear me, though Charlie could see my death glare. "Okay, maybe I _won't_ tell Emmett." He said, obviously threatened enough to be terrified.

The rest of the afternoon went without a hitch. When Bella came by to pick us up, she seemed very tense. I stayed behind, cause I wanted to go for a run in the woods. I think Charlie overheard the conversation, because he asked: "Running in that forest at night is dangerous."

"I'll be fine," I said coolly after Bella drove out of the driveway. "But if you honestly want to see how fast I can run? Just ask."

With that, I jogged into the woods at human pace. Once I was out of sight, I sprinted at full speed.

Faintly, I heard Charlie ask Jake: "How fast _can_ she run?"

"Fast, Charlie. Real fast," was how he answered. Charlie probably thought it was as fast as the fastest known person on the earth. Nope- -much faster.

I didn't know where I was running, all I knew is I was running east. Don't ask me how I knew that, I just did. And I ran, not thinking, just running. By the time I knew it, I was already halfway through Montana when I stopped. It wasn't that I needed a break, I just felt like stopping. I whipped out my phone and saw that I'd been running for roughly an hour and a half, when it started to ring. It was Bri.

"Hello?"

" _Erin!_ " I could practically hear the smile in her voice. " _Where are you_?"

"Um…somewhere in the middle of Montana?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Montana?" She asked, bewildered. "Okay, um, well we need you here."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." I hung up, and ran full speed towards Washington. I tried pushing it, and discovered I could go even faster. The exhilaration made me laugh, though I don't know why.

I made it the house in an hour and fifteen minutes, and swiftly entered through the front door.

"Where's the fire?" I asked as I came in.

Bri pointed to the coffee table, and I saw it- -the copy I owned of _Breaking Dawn_.

"How did this get here?" I asked, snatching it up.

"We don't know," my friend answered. "I made sure nobody read it, though."

"Do they know what it's about?" I asked, serious.

Bri shook her head.

I sighed with relief. "That's good."

"How did this _get_ here, though?" I asked myself. I opened it up to a random page. I read at the top of page number 653:

 _ **We went to see Charlie on Christmas Day, Edward, Renesmee, Jacob,**_ _Erin, Briana,_ _ **and I. All of Jacob's pack were there, plus Sam, Emily, and Sue.**_

What the heck? Me and Briana? What, were we in the book officially? Hey, just sends us a pair of certificates and we're good to go. All I could think was that I didn't belong in my world anymore. This was _not_ good.


	22. 21 Christmas and Documents

I'd made sure to hide the book with my Diet Coke stash. I'd read the whole book, but it said nothing about the book itself appearing inside the dimension. In fact, the book gave no indication that I knew anything about what was going to happen. For example, I was some quiet, shy human who later get's changed right before the Denali's come over. Briana is already a vampire who was some nomad who changed her diet to the vegetarian lifestyle, and we'd apparently known each other for a couple years in middle school, or something, when she was changed when she was 16. And on page 347, right before the chapter _There Are No Words for This_ , I'm mentioned to be sitting on the couch right next to Bella.

 _ **"Can I walk?" Bella asked. "My legs are so stiff."**_

 _ **"Are you sure?" Edward asked.**_

 _ **"Rose'll catch me if I trip over my feet. Which could happen pretty easily, since I can't see them."**_

 _Erin, who had taken a spot on the sofa next to where Bella had previously sat, chuckled at Bella's comment as_ _ **Rosalie set Bella carefully on her feet, keeping her hands right at Bella's shoulders. Bella stretched her arms out in front of her, wincing a little.**_

And I'd been all the way across the room! Something changed it, the bastard-object-dimension thing! Anyway, I'd also found out the _Twilight_ book that I'd taken from Bri's apartment had been effected in a teeny-tiny way: I'm mentioned. I was another quiet girl at the lunch table Bella sat at, and rarely spoke. How I'd gotten involved with the supernatural is because I'd been at the graduation party that takes place during _Eclipse_ , I'd overheard the conversation about Victoria and all that. Something like that, anyway. Right after the battle in the baseball field with the newborns and all that, Seth had imprinted on me. And the Volturi had no knowledge of me until the standoff.

So that's the book's excuse for my existence, which I have to admit was pretty good. Anyway, I was skipping down the stairs the next morning after the book appeared when Carlisle intercepted me.

 _Erin, Briana told me that the book that tells of the past events and near future events has been hidden somewhere by you_? he thought to me.

 _Yeah_ , I thought warily. _What do you want it for_?

 _I was wondering if I could have a look at it._

 _Um…_ Should I? Or should I not? _Sure, I guess? But I have to warn you- -it's not accurate to what's been happening these past few months, and I'm only gonna let you read up to a chapter in there called '_ There Are No Words for This _.'_

 _Thank you. Please bring it to me in my office- -I don't want anyone knowing about it._

He disappeared up the stairs, and I raced up to Edward's old room. I carefully, and quietly, lifted up the previously, but now loose floorboard that revealed the hidden book. I grabbed the book and dashed to Carlisle's study, where he was waiting for me.

"Thank you," he said as I handed it to him. He studied the front cover, and noticed the 'number one bestseller' text on it. "This is a bestseller?"

"Mm-hmm. It's really good." I said, and I finished through my mind, _It starts with Bella's point of view, then moves to Jacob Black's. Though, in the original version, Bri and I aren't in it._

"Interesting," he murmured, and speed-read the preface of the first part of the book. "Is this referring to the issue of why she wouldn't give up her daughter?"

I nodded, leaving him with the book. _Remember_ , I thought to him _. Only up to the chapter titled_ 'There Are No Words for This _._ '

I flitted out of the room and downstairs. Briana was sitting on the sofa, picking at the TV dinner meal on her lap. About a fourth of the Mac'n Cheese had been eaten, and a small bite had been taken out of one of the four chicken nuggets.

"Not hungry?" I sat down next to her.

She shook her head. "Nah. Not really." She sighed. "I've changed my mind. I want to be changed into a vampire."

All conversation around us went deadly silent.

"And I want you to be the one to do it," she announced. Carlisle appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Bri," I said, turning to look at her. "I'm not going to take away your mortality."

My best friend snorted. "You sound like Edward."

"And I don't think I'll be able to handle it," I said, probably whining a little. "I mean, I seem like I'm in control, but not as much as I seem to have. I'm used to your smell, but if I try to change you…I might kill you."

"Yeah, like that'll happen."

I glowered at her. "You have no idea what it's like being a vampire, Bri. Besides, your going to be going to Charlie's anyway. It would look weird if you suddenly couldn't be there."

She groaned. "Fine. _After_ the Volturi leave, then."

 _If they leave_ , I heard someone think. Tanya, it sounded like.

 **LINE BREAK**

On Christmas day, just like the book had said, Briana, Jacob, Renesmee, Bella, Edward, and I went to Charlie's house. Let me tell you, the house was _packed_. No, that is not a pun. Yes, Jacob's pack was there, along with Sam, Emily, and Sue. Seth was happy to see me, and I was extremely surprised Leah actually _talked_ to me.

Another thing that surprised me was that I got Christmas gifts from a few people. Bri got me an Ipod Touch- -probably using the Cullen's money on Edward's insistence. Seth got me a charm bracelet that had a silver chain, and a single charm on it: a silver wolf. I was surprised when Jacob gave me something- -unsurprised when it was a 12-pack of Diet Coke. Edward, who insisted the whole Cullen family pitched in besides Bella, gave me a car. Even though I was grateful, I was still horrified when I saw a black Porsche parked in front of Charlie's house. Even Charlie got me something: a two liter bottle of Diet Coke.

When we left, I could tell Bella, Edward, and Jacob were relieved, probably tired of pretending everything was all right. Seth was going to spend the rest of the night at his mother's house, as was Leah. Edward gave me the keys to my car before leaving with Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee- -Bri had decided to ride home with me in my new car.

While I put my Diet Coke in the trunk, Briana got in the passenger side of the car. I was wearing the bracelet Seth had given me, and my Ipod was in my pocket.

"So," I said as I got in the car. "The Volturi will be coming in a few days. Hopefully with me there, the standoff will go like normal in the book. And hopefully Aro will figure out that we plan to change you."

"Yeah." She had a faraway look in her eyes. As I drove pulled away from the curb, she asked: "Could you tell me about _New Moon_ now?"

So I did. I explained Bella's dream at the beginning of the book, and then gave an overview of what happens throughout it.

"Wow," she whispered. "Edward left Bella? That's…shocking, seeing how happy they look now."

"Yeah, the crazy weirdo was trying to 'protect' her," I said as I turned the car into the Cullen's driveway. "But it pretty much did the opposite; she became suicidal, in a crazy, insane way." I muttered to myself: "Hallucinations…more like 'oh, I need to get rid of my pain, so I'm going to think of the craziest ways to kill myself!' She was kinda crazy herself, there." I scoffed.

"What?" Bri asked.

"Nothing," I said. "Talking to myself about my opinion of Bella's suicidal side."

My friend gave me a look that suggested I was going crazy. "Oh."

We found out Alistair was gone, after we entered the house. The only one shocked of the two of us was Briana, as expected.

 _The guy won't do anything_ , I thought to Edward. _He's just afraid of his butt getting kicked by the Volturi_.

There was also an argument going on between Carlisle, Benjamin, and Amun. Much sarcasm involved. I got my presents hauled inside and moved all my stuff back up to the attic. I sort of reminded myself of this fiction story I read on a website called where there was a vampire living in the attic of some Scottish mansion, or whatever.

That night, Bella left to run her 'errand' to pick up the false papers J had made up for her. I was surprised when Bella asked if I would go hunting with her. She stopped me when we were about halfway to Seattle.

"Erin." She said, and took a deep breath. "You probably know this, but I went to this man called J, and- -"

"I know. You got fake papers, or whatever. What you talking to me about it for, though?"

"I got something for Bri, too," she said. "She would be staging as Renesmee's older sister, or something. Anyway, I thought I'd tell you. Once Aro gives the word to attack, and Jake takes off with Renesmee, they're going to get Bri real quick and take off to someplace…safe."

"That was thoughtful of you Bella, but you really didn't need to- -"

"I wanted too. Please, just let Briana go with them."

"It's not like I have any control over that girl," I muttered, thinking of how crazy she was when we were little. "But it's nice to know she will be safe." Even though it's entirely unnecessary. Together, Bella and I ran back to the house in silence.


	23. 22 The Volturi

Now there was nothing left but to wait.

For two whole days, Carlisle and Edward stayed in the clearing where the standoff would be. From time-to-time, I would check in on them and see if the Volturi had come yet. And I would head back to the house, shaking my head. Bri had been taken to Charlie's house two days before, also. The night before New Years Eve, it started to snow, and the tiny, crystal like flakes did not melt when they touched the ground.

I stayed guard outside the tent where Renesmee and Jacob slept. Not like I need to, but it gave me something to do. When Nessie woke up, Bella dressed her in the clothes she had picked out for her, and they said their 'goodbyes.' When I'd read that part in the book for the first time, I'd balled my eyes out. Now, I was crying like a vampire cries.

"What's the matter?" Seth's voice said from behind me.

"Oh," I pointed to the tent. "Bella and Renesmee are saying goodbye. That part always made me cry."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"

"Yes! It's a sad part." I pouted, then became serious. "C'mon. They'll be here soon."

 **LINE BREAK**

Waiting. I didn't like it. Even though I knew this was going to have a positive outcome, I still couldn't help feeling tense. What would Aro think when he read Edward's mind, and found out about me? What about Bri? Would she be safe? Had Edward accidentally heard something in my mind about what was going to happen? So many questions kept forming in my mind as I stood behind Bella in the clearing. Seth was standing off in the woods somewhere with the other wolves. Finally, the clouds moved to block the sunlight. Seconds later, the Volturi made their entrance.

It was eerie, seeing so much black seemingly floating across the snow. I will not describe it as Stephenie Meyer did- -too many words. Finally they came to a stop, because the wolves had joined us. Seth sauntered to my side. I knew even if this did come to a fight, we would still win. They were easily outnumbered.

Next to me, I heard Zafrina and Senna growling in a hushed way, as was Bella. Bella stopped growling when Edward squeezed her hand. A few seconds later, I heard Edward's breath speed up.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked, anxious and low.

"They're choosing how to proceed. They're weighing options, choosing key targets- -me, of course, you, Eleazer, Tanya. Marcus is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points. The Romanians' presence irritates them. They're worried about the faces they don't recognize- -Zafrina, Senna, and Erin in particular- -and the wolves, naturally. They've never been outnumbered before. That's what stopped them."

"Outnumbered?" Tanya whispered incredulously.

"They don't count their witnesses," I answered for Edward, as if speaking in a trance. "They are nonentities, meaningless to the guard. Aro just enjoys an audience."

Of course, non of the Cullen's were taken aback at what I'd said, but our witnesses sure were. I just told them: "I know things."

They shrugged it off, though still confused, and Carlisle asked: "Should I speak?"

Edward hesitated, and then nodded. "This is the only chance you'll get."

Carlisle paced several steps out of the defensive line. He spread his arms out, holding his palms up. "Aro, my old friend. It's been centuries."

A few tense seconds passed by before Aro stepped forward. Renata moved with her master as if her fingertips were glued to his robe. A few members of the guard grumbled and went into defensive crouches, but Aro turned to them, one of his hands held up to them. I mirrored him in perfect synchronization- -only my hand making the Vulcan sign- -and whispered the same word he spoke aloud. "Peace." I got a few really strange looks from the vampires around me. Again, none of the Cullen's reacted to my actions. Aro turned back to Carlisle, and walked a few more paces toward him. "Fine words, Carlisle. They seem out of place, considering the army you've assembled to kill me, and to kill my dear ones."

Carlisle shook his head and stretched his right hand out toward Aro, even though they were still practically a hundred yards apart. "You have to touch my hand to know that was never my intent."

Aro narrowed his eyes. "But how can your intent possibly matter, dear Carlisle, in the face of what you have done?" He frowned.

"I have not committed the crime you are here to punish me for."

"Then step aside and let us punish those responsible. Truly, Carlisle, nothing would please me more than to preserve your life today."

"No one has broken the law, Aro. Let me explain." Again, Carlisle offered his hand.

Before Aro could answer, the blond vampire who I had recently found out to be Caius, slowly drifted to Aro's side.

"So many pointless rules, so many unnecessary laws you create for yourself, Carlisle," Caius spoke. "How is it possible that you defend the breaking of one that truly matters?"

"She is _not_ an immortal. She is not a vampire. I can easily prove this with just a few moments- -"

Caius cut him off. "If she is not one of the forbidden, then why have you massed a battalion to protect her?"

"Witnesses, Caius, just as you have brought." Carlisle gestured to the angry throng of vampires the Volturi brought along with them.

"Bastards," I muttered. "They are so stuck up. Too quick to judge. They need to shut the heck up and _listen_."

I got a warning hiss from Zafrina. I was so caught up in my fuming that I almost didn't notice Edward walking out into the clearing. So much had happened _already_? Man, I had Vampire Attention Deficit Disorder. I just gotta pay attention…

In a split second, I saw some shimmering thing expand away from Bella, crawling it's way over to Edward in another split second, and Bella let out a startled laugh.

"Bella," I whispered, seeing no point in not letting the witnesses in on my secret now. "I've read this part millions of times, and I _still_ don't get why you laugh. Don't do it again, that was creepier than reading the words, ' _ **A startled laugh burst through my lips**_ '."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see a few of the witnesses giving me startled glances. Ahead, I notice Bella pull her shield back a good ten feet.

Edward held his hand out to Aro, and the old man closed the distance without a pause. With a cocky smile, Aro took Edward's hand. His eyes closed immediately. Now, Aro knew everything. Everything that had gone in the house with the witnesses. Everything about Renesmee. And everything about me; how I'd come to their house knowing everything about them; how I gave them advice, _told_ them what would work, and what wouldn't; having complete control from day one after being changed; talking about the books; being able to feed off of Diet Coke...Everything.

I hissed in frustration along with Bella, and I noticed Bella's shield going crazy, and rippling here and there.

"Easy Bella, Erin," Zafrina whispered to us.

Edward and Aro continued their two-way conversation, and I tried to listen in. Mostly, I saw images of Renesmee, and a few others that flashed by so quick that I couldn't tell what they were.

"What's going on?" Zafrina asked me.

"I'm not sure," I whispered back. "All I'm getting is images." I gasped when I saw an image of me in a black robe. He wanted me to join. "And Aro just brought up me."

We went silent again, and I was getting uneasy.

"I can't take this," I whimpered, searching through my memories, trying to find an escape.

"Erin, no! Don't Travel, we might need you!" Tanya hissed, and Seth gave me a curious look.

 _Never mind_ , I thought to him, still searching for something that I could go to until I was needed.

"Bump me if I'm needed," I muttered before I was no longer mentally in the field.

Surprisingly, I was in my parent's backyard of their house, watching my six-year-old self and a six-year-old Briana swing on an old swing set. I was invisible to them, so I just watched them, smiling when my younger self tried to use the swing when on my belly. Suddenly, I was hit in the shoulder by something, and I ripped myself to the present.

"How long was I gone?" I asked instantly.

"Just a few minutes," Senna answered, and I realized she was the one who had hit me. "Aro has called his guard forward and is discussing with them."

I didn't pay attention to the conversation _at all_. Well, at least until I heard something that caused me to tense up and hiss menacingly: "Erin Marie Baker. Step forward, please?" Aro asked.

I hissed quietly as I looked at Edward, who nodded slowly. Slowly I walked toward Aro and Caius.

"Erin, my dear, would you mind?" Aro held out his hand to me when I stopped three feet away. Right now, it sucked to be me- -I had no fighting training _at all_. "I am merely only curious."

Reluctantly, I put my shield down completely. Now Edward could hear my thoughts too, but I wasn't too worried about that. And reluctantly, I put my hand in Aro's. The man closed his eyes tightly as he saw every single memory of mine- -even the ones I had forgotten. I looked into his mind and saw what he saw. He was intrigued that I could time-travel, and most intrigued when he found out that I was from an 'alternate dimension' as he seemed to call it. He was extremely intrigued when he read each book from my mind, word for word. I closed my eyes too, frustrated, and then opened them again. A few minutes later, Aro opened his eyes too.

"You have an interesting past, my dear," he said. "And a very fascinating talent. I would have offered you the choice of joining us, but considering your memories and hatred of us, the answer would most likely be 'no'."

I sighed exasperatedly, removing my hand from his. "Can I go stand back over there now?"

He smiled a fake smile. "Of course." I was on his target list now. He'd find some way to have me on his guard, that was for sure.

I flitted back over to my spot behind Bella.

Aro spoke up. "Erin, here, has just explained everything to me…even though it has not happened yet."

There was a collection of whispers, but I didn't catch what they said.

"She knows…that we will leave you unharmed, that we do not spare dear Irina." Kate and Tanya hissed at him. "She has also given me all the information to know that we have no reason to stay here any longer."

I could just feel the hope in everyone around me.

"Alice and Jasper are on their way now," Aro said, and the Cullen's eyes lit up. "With another quite like dear Renesmee."

"And what if she's lying?" Caius demanded. "What if she has false memories?"

"I assure you, Caius, that these are not false memories, but quite real ones," Aro told him, and added. "She also seems to be from an alternate dimension."

There was a shocked gasp from both crowds. Some from the Volturi's witnesses threw glares at me, suggesting I was crazy. Other's looked at me like I was something to be afraid of.

"How is this possible?" Caius murmured. "An alternate dimension, you say? What if there are others that have come here, knowing about us?"

"I assure you, there is at least one," Aro told him, quirking an eyebrow at me. "And she happens to be Erin's best friend, a human."

"We plan to change her," I told him. "I- -" I heard three new voices in my head, and my breath hitched. "They're here."

I looked over, and Alice, Jasper, and Nahuel jumped from within the forest.


	24. 23 The Happily Ever After

_And then Alice, Jasper, and Nahuel jumped from within the forest_. Close behind them was Kachiri and a woman I knew to be Huilen, Nahuel's aunt.

"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks," Edward said to the heads of the Volturi. "But I assume you know this already, Aro."

"Indeed I do," Aro replied. He now possessed my knowledge, which was both good and bad.

"Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?" I asked, beating Edward to it.

Alice stepped forward. I'd prevented the three elders from voting- -for now. "This is Huilen, and her nephew Nahuel."

"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give the witness you were brought to bear to those who are not yet enlightened."

The native woman looked slightly taken aback by Aro's words, but spoke. "I am Huilen. A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful- -too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shook her head in a mournful way. "As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched.

"She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away- -I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She at the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her before I killed the monster.

"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones- -and loved him still.

"I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish- -and I agreed.

"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far- -the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping.

"I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."

Huilen bowed her head when she finished her speech, and hid partially behind Kachiri.

"Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old." It was a statement, not a question like in the book.

"Give or take a decade," he answered in a clear voice. "We don't keep track."

"And you reached maturity at what age?" Aro asked, trying to confirm what he had seen in the book in my mind.

"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown."

"You have not changed since then." Again, it was a statement, not a question.

Nahuel shrugged, and nodded. "Not that I've noticed."

"And your diet?" Again, trying to confirm.

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."

"You were able to create an immortal." Aro gestured to Huilen, clearly making a statement again.

"Yes, but none of the rest can."

"Your sisters," Aro said.

Nahuel seemed taken aback that Aro knew, but kept quiet. "My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death. He was pleased to find me. He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had.

"He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance…who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not _interested_ in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back."

"Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth. Well, that's one thing that hadn't changed.

"Joham," Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race." He made no attempt to hide the disgust in his voice.

Caius looked at Bella. "Your daughter, is she venomous?" he demanded harshly.

"No," Bella responded.

Caius growled. "We take care of the aberration here, and then follow it south," he urged Aro.

"Brother," he said softly to Caius. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."

"Let us vote," Caius suggested. "These children are of unknown quantity. There is no reason to allow such risk to exist. All of them must be destroyed, along with all who protect them."

Marcus lifted his bored eyes, and with one quick look in his mind, he was clearly utterly bored. "I see no immediate danger. These creatures are safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us leave in peace."

"I have cast my vote," Aro spoke.

Caius scowled. "And this Joham? This immortal is so fond of experimentation."

"Perhaps we _should_ speak with him," Aro agreed.

"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said flatly. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent."

Aro nodded, his expression solemn. He then turned to his guard with a warm smile.

"Dear ones," he called. "We do not fight today."

I sighed in relief, knowing they would leave soon.

"I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," Aro said sweetly. "My friend, Carlisle- -how pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."

"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle said stiffly. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."

"Of course, Carlisle," Aro said. "I am sorry to earn your disapproval, my dear friend. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me."

"Perhaps, in time, if you prove us a friend to us again."

Aro bowed his head, and then spoke to me. "I will be seeing you again, my dear Erin. And perhaps young Briana will be immortal by then." He let the warning hang in the hair as he stepped backwards a few steps, then turned around and ran into the forest with the rest of the Volturi.

It was very quiet, and I noticed Bella did not drop her shield.

"My gosh, Bella!" I said, breaking the silence. " _Yes_ it's over!" I answered her unasked question.

Bella turned to the russet wolf next to her, whom I did not notice until now had Renesmee on his back. Bella sort of half-climbed him and ripped Nessie from his back.

"Nessie, Nessie, Nessie," Bella crooned as she hugged her daughter tightly, and Edward embraced the both of them in the same second.

Jacob laughed a big, barky laugh.

"Shut up," Bella mumbled.

"I get to stay with you?" Renesmee demanded.

"Forever," her mother promised.

"Forever," Edward echoed her, and Bella lifter her head and kissed him with passion. I spoke my favorite lines of the book in my head, to everyone around me, though I wasn't aware of it:

 _ **I couldn't speak anymore. I lifted my head and kissed him with a passion that might possibly set the forest on fire.**_

 _ **I wouldn't have noticed.**_

I turned to Seth, who I was surprised to see in human form with a huge grin on his face. You know, if he was as short as he was in the movie, it would have looked ridiculous, but I had to reach my head up as we embraced each other and kissed with as equal passion as Bella and Edward.

 **LINE BREAK**

We were walking through the dark forest, holding hands, and free of worry. Bri was still at Charlie's house, presumably crashing on the couch last I heard. My friend was very obviously relieved that everything had gone well, though still wanted to be changed. There was something else that was bothering me, though…

"Seth," I said. "Have you ever thought of the possibility that after the point where the book ends, I might have to go back?"

"Yeah," he said. "But if you do…I'm going with you. Nothing- -not even the Volturi- -would stop me from going with you."

I smiled. "That's nice to know." My smile faded, knowing what would happen if I did go back. I sighed. "The possibilities of going back are high, though."

Seth scoffed. "I don't care. As long as we're together, I'm happy."

"'You jump, I jump.'" I muttered, quoting from the _Titanic_ movie.

"What's that?"

"Oh, some stupid romantic line from this one movie," I said. "'You jump, I jump.' It means wherever you go, I go. I think."

"That doesn't sound stupid to me," he disagreed.

My phone rang at that moment. "Hello?"

"Erin? There's something going on with the book." It was Carlisle.

"What do you mean?"

"Just come see for yourself." He hung up.

I sighed. "I'm needed at the house."

Luckily, we weren't far. After walking through the front door, I was instantly dragged by Carlisle through the _back_ door. Jeez.

There on the ground, face-up, was my _Breaking Dawn_ book. There was some weird shimmering mist hanging around it.

"What's that veil around it?" I asked, taking a step forward, but was instantly pulled back.

"We don't know," Carlisle said. "I was taking it back here to read when that mist started to form. Horrified, I had dropped it and called you immediately. What do you supposed it is?"

"Probably a portal," I said, "to my world."

Carlisle gasped. "You don't mean- -"

"That I have to go back, yes." I took a deep breath and let it out in a _whoosh_. "It's time for me to go home."

"I'm going with you," Seth said, putting his arm around my waist.

"Oh, no you aren't Seth Clearwater!" Leah's unexpected shout came from the trees. "You are going to keep you and that furry butt of your's are staying here where you belong!"

By now, everyone was outside- -even Nahuel and Huilen, who were looking very confused.

"We're back…" I heard Jake's voice falter as he arrived inside the house, seeing no one there. He'd gone to get Bri from Charlie's house. "Where is everybody?"

"The backyard!" I shouted. Seconds later, Briana and Jacob appeared. Instantly, Bri ran over to me, and Jake ran over to Bella, who had Renesmee.

"What's going on?" Bri asked, mystified.

"I think it's time for us to go home," I admitted, gesturing to the mist.

"Either you're seeing something I can't, or you're going crazy." I realized Briana couldn't see the barely visible mist around the book.

I looked at Carlisle. "Then…she's not meant to go back?"

He shrugged. "I only know as much as you."

The other wolves stepped from the forest, in human form. Embry, I noticed, seemed to be looking at Briana with a strange look. Great, another imprintee. And Briana noticed.

"Whoo!" I cheered, despite the situation. "Yay, Embry!"

Everyone who was not a mind reader looked at me like I was crazy.

"He imprinted on Bri," I said, like it was obvious. "Duh."

"I guess I'm meant to stay…" Briana said, trailing off as she looked at Embry.

"So…What were we talking about?" I asked after a second of awkward silence. And then I remembered. "Oh, yeah. I gotta go back."

"And I'm going with her," Seth said, giving Leah a firm look.

"Are you sure?" His sister asked.

"Yes."

And then Leah did something that surprised us all. She ran over and hugged her baby brother.

"I'll miss you," she whispered, one tear escaping down her cheek.

Seth hugged her back. "Me, too."

Leah stepped away from him, and turned to me. "You take care of him, Erin Baker, or I'm gonna fight my way into that dimension of your's and kill you myself."

"I swear I'll take care of him," I said, smiling. I heard a tiny whimper, and looked over to see Renesmee reaching towards me from Bella's arms.

I took her, and she put her hand to my cheek. She was saying her own personal goodbye, playing images in my head that were her favorite times of us together- -her absolute favorite one when Jacob imprinted on her.

"I'll miss you," I said to her. "Make sure you keep an eye on Briana and Embry for me, will you?"

She grinned. "Goodbye, Auntie Erin."

"'Bye," I said, handing her back to Bella. "Bye Bella. Too bad there aren't any more books to keep an eye on your life."

Bella narrowed her eyes. "I'm thankful for that, actually. Goodbye."

I turned to Bri, and was surprised to see she was crying. "Take care of my car, will you?"

"What?" She asked, blue eyes widening. "You're giving me your Porsche?"

"It's all your's," I said, taking the keys out of my pocket and handing them to her. "Take care of it."

"Sure," she replied.

There were too many people to say goodbye to. I didn't want to leave, though I knew it was unpreventable. I turned to Seth. "You ready to go?"

I noticed he was holding a picture of his family, and he quickly put that in his pocket. "Yeah. I'm ready."

I took his hand in mine, and together, we stepped through the misty veil.

Everything started to spin like crazy, and went dark. There was wind howling from all directions, and up ahead, I saw a dim light. The light swiftly became closer and seemed to run into us as we suddenly found ourselves in a bookstore. I was home.


	25. Epilogue

I was home. Part of me was overjoyed, but another part of me was sad. I'd never wanted to leave, yet as I'd said earlier, it was unpreventable. It was a shocker when I staggered and discovered I was human, and in the clothes I had worn the night of the accident. I was in jeans, and underneath my winter jacket, I wore some random plaid button-down over shirt. There was gloves on my hands; I took one of them off and I didn't need to inspect my skin closely to know I had my natural tan back, confirming I was human. Seth, who stood next to me, was also in a winter jacket, also probably in different clothes; he was wearing jeans instead of shorts.

"Where are we?" he whispered.

I grinned like an idiot. "We're in the bookstore I was in before…you know, before the accident."

"Oh," was all he said.

I did the same thing I had done at what seemed so long ago- -yet I was here, same place, same time, like nothing had ever happened- -I picked up all four of the _Twilight_ books from the shelf in front of me. The only proof I had that I hadn't been daydreaming was Seth standing next to me as living proof.

"Are you still a… _shape-shifter_?" I whispered very quietly.

He nodded. "As far as I know. Why are you human, though?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. C'mon."

I led him over to the checkout counter where the clerk quickly checked the books out, and put them in a paper bag. "Merry Christmas," she said, as if she was bored.

"You, too," I said, grabbing the bag, and walked out the store, Seth following me.

There was a blizzard going on outside, and I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and ducked down, heading to my truck which was right in front of the store. It was a weird section of Minneapolis, I'll just say that. I unlocked the truck, and piled in. Seth got in the passenger's side.

"So," I said as I started the vehicle, turning the heat onto high. "I'm not going to prevent it, so we mind as well will go with it."

He gave me a sad look. "Erin, I- -"

"I'm sorry, Seth," I whispered, buckling my seatbelt, and pulled away from the curb. We were silent the whole way, and Seth dozed off, even with the paper bag with the books in his lap. About five miles outside of town, along the side of the freeway, I noticed a pale figure standing there and watching the car. It was my past self. I acknowledged her with a nod, which she returned, and drove on. And then it hit my like a load of bricks. My life was about to end, and I was going to leave Seth alone…As tears ran down my cheeks, I notice Seth stirring, and he jolted awake. Déjà vu.

"Oh, good, neither of us are dead yet," he said grimly.

"It'll be soon, though." I left out the part where I'd seen myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a burry white streak following us. Good, just keep following. Up ahead, I saw a pair of headlights. The next thing I knew, there was a horrible crunching noise, and I hit my head on the steering wheel, and I could not longer control parts of my body; somehow, I had partially paralyzed. I was really out of it, but not out of it enough to not noticed the car flipping over a few times. For a while, everything went black. And then I heard a voice that made me want to keep going, to keep fighting…

"Erin?" I heard Seth's voice, as if from the other end of a tunnel. "Erin, are you still alive?"

I coughed weakly. I could feel something warm and sticky on my face. "S-Seth…?" I was aware that I was slurring. "I-I'm so…I so sorry…"

Everything around me was fading…I needed to tell Seth something one last time…

"No!" I heard his weak shout, completely in denial.

"I-I love…I love…" I couldn't speak anymore. No! I would _not_ leave Seth with an unfinished sentence! It was my last hope, but I thought to him, _I love you forever_.

The last thing I heard was a weak, shocked gasp. My last thought was that he'd heard me. The last thing my brain registered was my heart no longer beating. And my last feeling was the feeling of floating upwards…


End file.
